Marilyn's Photos - Nov 2 2026 - The Lowly Pencil

 

There's an article in the Globe and Mail this morning on how much money the mid-terms have brought in from billionaires.  Are you ready?  It has been over $1.7 billion (some articles say more than this) from 172 billionaire families.  And then including corporations, it is $2.77 billion.  Can you imagine there are 172 billionaire families? There were 1,135 individual billionaires in 2024.  Compare that to Canada where the last election totalled $95 million raised and it was a full election. This mid-term election, one Texas Senate candidate has raised $146 million.  But that's a low number compared to the rest of us millions who are middle to upper class.  We are the ones exposed to the stories about the most expensive things that billionaires buy for billions of dollars. The latest most expensive thing that I saw?  The pencil.  Yes, the stupid pencil. That's the instrument that I use during choir practice to mark the music where I should pay attention.   The world's most expensive pencil is the Graf von Faber‑Castell Perfect Pencil Limited Edition (specifically the Limited Edition Whitegold or Ultimate edition), priced at $12,800 USD.  A body crafted from rare, 240-year-old olive wood An extender, cap, and trim made from 18-carat white gold (White Gold Palladium) Three diamonds mounted beneath the Faber-Castell coat-of-arms on the cap  Maybe it is that built-in sharpener and eraser that makes it all worthwhile.  Supposedly they are highly sought after by collectors and enthusiasts.  There's only one  "enthusiast" who wants us to know they purchased the pencil, and it turns out to be the Mont Blanc Imperial Dragon Pencil.  An imposter! And I can't get the video to play, which is normal these days. I wonder about this world of pencils,  Is this just about how much the rich might pay for things - meant to fascinate us non-rich? There are no owners listed for the pencil, there are no photographs of a hand touching the pencil let alone some collector or enthusiast identified as owning the pencil. What about us millions of active instrumentalists and vocalists?  Isn't there a collector amongst us? It says No.  What it does say is that the cult-classic Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602 was THE PENCIL. John Steinbeck, Truman Capote, E.B. White, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, John Williams, Nelson Riddle and Quincy Jones used it.   Stephen Sondheim was a collector of the cult-classic Eberhard Faber Blackwing 602. His personal vintage Blackwings sold for over $4,000 to $6,400.  So if you have a musician in the family, a perfect Christmas present would be an individual Blackwing 602 on an auction site like eBay - I see a used one for only $7.99 and a set of 3 for $55.79.  Expensive vs exclusive, there's the moment. I was at Sheridan on Southdown Road last week and remembered the beautiful Koi images I took way back.  That little pond is long gone, and I was told that was because the Koi were dinner one winter - taken by a nearby otter or mink from their winter tanks.  The Southdown Road location is near Lake Ontario... These Koi aren't from that visit - these were at Marie Selby Garden in Florida.   Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Nov 1 2026 - New Day New Time

 

I think the time change makes to daylight savings time has not ever made sense.  And that the decision by various governments to stay with daylight savings time doubles the no sense of it all that I experience. I attribute this opinion to my age.  Being older, I have time to contemplate the time change itself and then which would be better.  I never gave this much thought in the past.   As to which isi better, It seems straightforward that we would align ourselves with the solar clock, which is what our bodies not our brains are aligned to. So that's the opinion of the day.   Here's the real question.  How is it that parts of Arizona have dumped Daylight Saving Time (since 1967) and the rest of the U.S. states (except Hawaii) aren't able to do that?  But they are allowed to do that.  The Uniform Time Act of 1966 explicitly allowed individual states to opt out of observing DST.  That would mean they can go to Standard Time.  Now we're at the problem at hand.  Ontario says it will go with a single standard time when Quebec does and New York State does. The trend has been to go with DST and not Standard Time. Arizona went with Standard Time because of the heat - DST was a negative. But now the trend is to go with DST as the standard. The rationale for DST today is listed as these: longer summer evenings economic and retail lobbying perceived safety for evening traffic coordination and trade  - Jurisdictions hesitate to move to Standard Time unilaterally because they want to stay synchronized, and there are lots of places already on DST as the standard.   So whoever went first, wins in the decision of which to choose. And so far most have gone with DST as the standard.  Gridlock ahead... We live in a Halloween desert on our street. Even with children next door.  I had to go to the corner to get two families to come down our street to the house.  The third family who we know from dog walking came to show us their new costume for their Dachsund Bennie - he was a fully dressed hot dog!  At least one victory this year. Yesterday's photos of NOTL seemed wintery to Carol, one of the recipients of the photo of the day. That shows a sense of the temperature difference of just a zone or two as she lives in Pennsylvania, which is a much warmer place than here.   We look at yesterday's image and say Fall - a wonderful time of year here in Canada. So what would a chilly autumn scene look like?  Just enough snow to signal everything is frozen. Barren trees and a steep grade up to the top of the hill.  And why would this possibly be a November road and not a February road?  It looks clear of ice - a nice dry drive.  A February blizzard road is for another month... Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Oct 31 2026 - Halloween Food

 

Yes, there are Halloween meals and dishes.  I guess we didn't have as much of a sense of humour when I was little as people do now.     Mummy Meatloaf: A meatloaf wrapped in strips of mashed potatoes, creating a mummy-like effect.  Spiderweb Pizza: A pizza topped with string cheese and a plastic spider for a spooky finish.  Devilled Egg Eyeballs: A fun twist on the classic devilled egg, with olives or capers for eyes and a sprinkle of paprika for a sinister look.  Witch's Broom: A dessert shaped like a witch's broom, perfect for Halloween movie nights.  Chocolate Strawberry Sauce: A sweet treat that is dipped in chocolate strawberry sauce, shaped like a vampire's blood.  It is unclear to me how you make mashed potatoes into strips. The picture I saw had the strips made of puff pastry, and had eyes popping out.  The individual servings were topped with plastic spiders - big ones. There are lots of variations - all funny. Spiderweb pizzas all look artistic and attractive - very pretty cheese designs.  But what do they then do?  Cover the pizza with olive spiders. The spiders make things yucky.  Here's a picture showing spiders with incorrect numbers of legs.  One spider in the middle seems enough for me.   At least with devilled eggs there is only enough room for one spider on a devilled egg eyeball.  I think it might be the black that is creepy - because you can make carrot spiders with dip and they seem fine or cheesy spider appetizers. There's even a ritz cracker with spiker leggs that look like pretzels.   At least with devilled eggs there is only enough room for one spider on a devilled egg eyeball.  I think it might be the black that is creepy - because you can make carrot spiders with dip and they seem fine or cheesy spider appetizers. There's even a ritz cracker with spiker leggs that look like pretzels. But then again, lookingn at all these plates of spiders is disconcerting. Finally with the witches broom we get to dessert - these are cute chocolate cups with sucker sticks poking up.  That's also the case of the vampire hot chocolate with edible blood.  I expect what makes them cute is the lack of spider adornments. I expect this Halloween will go on all day into the evening, given it is on a Saturday. What splendid costumes await us. Here's a picture from a few years ago - this seems much scarier than the giant skeletons that have proliferated this year.  Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Oct 30 2026 - British Reactions to Foreign Foods

 

A popular internet title is about the reaction of British people to various foods from foreign countries.  I wonder what makes the British the subject of this topic?  You can't find articles on the French trying dishes from foreign countries.  Only on the influence of French cuisine - the reverse point of view.  The articles about American reactions of other countries' food are sparse to non-existent.  The article are about American foods people from other countries find gross.  Headings like "17 foods Americans enjoy that are banned in other countries."  But then I wouldn't consider chewing gum a food. And most items on the list are bogus foods.  Americans do not love eating haggis or horse meat.  Somehow there is something in the British character that seems so much more interesting and amusing than in other countries.  Here's the response to American cheese slices: "Brits grow up with mature cheddar, crumbly stilton, and creamy brie. So when confronted with a perfectly square, individually wrapped slice of processed American cheese that melts into a suspicious orange puddle, the judgment is swift and silent. "It's not really cheese, is it?" is the unspoken thought at every British barbecue where someone dares use it. Ironically, most Brits have eaten it in a McDonald's cheeseburger and thoroughly enjoyed every single bite." Here's the write-up for Canadian Poutine: "Chips, gravy, and cheese curds — Canada's national comfort dish sounds like it was invented during a very enthusiastic late-night craving. Brits are genuinely intrigued but also quietly horrified by the cheese curds, which squeak against your teeth when you bite them. Squeaky cheese on chips drenched in gravy is a concept that takes some warming up to. Once they try it though, most Brits quietly admit it hits differently after midnight." Here's another very wonderful moment: Scottish Deep-Fried Mars Bar: "Yes, this one is technically British — but the rest of the world judges it, and Brits from outside Scotland judge it with equal enthusiasm while pretending to be open-minded. A chocolate bar, battered and deep-fried, served at a chip shop. It sounds like a dare. Scotland invented it, Scotland owns it, and honestly, it tastes exactly as chaotic and wonderful as it sounds. The judgment is just jealousy dressed up as concern for public health. Every Brit who tries one becomes an immediate convert." The full article is HERE. Here we are in Niagara-on-the-Lake at Front and Regent Street looking away from the Lake towards the main street.  Turn the other way and climb this little hill for a panoramic view of Lake Ontario and the Niagara River - and across the river in easy view is Old Fort Niagara on the American side. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - Oct 28 2026 - Data Centre Paint

 

n the 1960s, 70s and 80s, we thought of data centres as vast centralized facilities full of machines that were rectangles and squares. Everything gray and bland,  like the picture below.  Very neat and tidy with the raised white floor, freezing temperatures.  We thought they were astonishing then.   So what about data centres now in the AI era?  Don't the headlines tell us they are larger, much larger?  Hundreds of thousands of square feet, housing thousands of server racks and hundreds of thousands to millions of compute units.   You can get a 3D sort of tour into one at this Financial Times article HERE.  The article uses animation so it is fascinating to read.  I guess I realized these facilities make our twentieth century factories like Stelco and the Oakville Ford Plant look miniature.  Just like the data centres of the 70s and 80s, they will be neat and tidy and devoid of people.  Just a few computer operators.  But my interest is the gray interior of these facilities. There is a lot of paint that will be needed.  I guess it is going to be gray, black, and white.  The paint is specialized industrial coating. It protects steel from fire.  Floor coatings prevent static electricity from jumping around to machines.  Why is it gray?   It looks like it is because the major paint suppliers - PPG and Sherwin-WIlliams - provide standardized, bulk industrial packages of this specialized paint.  The cost of painting a single AI data centre ranges from $3 to $8 million.  Subtle colour variations across warm or cool spectrums with subtle undertones - blue, green, violet, taupe or beige -  not so important.  Even the outside of this TOR1X0 Data Centre at SteelesTech Campus in Toronto is gray.   It is at 3125 Steeles Avenue East at Victoria Park Avenue.  How many people might work there?  It will have 32 vehicular parking spaces, and bicycle parking spots. So that doesn't look like very many staff.  The number usually given is between 50 and 400 long-term personnel.  You can read about the site plans at urbantoronto.ca HERE.  I found this Florida sunrise picture in Lightroom yesterday and marvelled at the amazing colours. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com