Marilyn's Photos - July 13 2025 - Wimbleton Towels

 

Famous events bring forth famous swag.  Wimbledon is famous for: a) being the oldest tennis tournament in the world b) strawberries and cream c) only Grand Slam still played on grass courts d) its towels You likely know the first three answers.  But Wimbledon towels?  I guess I am not attentive enough to the social beat.  AI says these are: "iconic, collectible, towels, particularly the traditional green and purple "Championship" towels, which have become synonymous with the tournament.  Players often take these towels home as souvenirs, despite them being intended for use during matches and then laundered. " I prefer them to take them home rather than reuse them.  How cheap.  Actually, aren't they expensive at $200.00.  But then, they have hand towels and face clothes for $94.00 so something for at least two price groups.  There are many products for the fans far away.   Go to the website to purchase and here's what you will find: "The Official Wimbledon Towels have achieved iconic status here at The Championships where they have featured in some of the biggest matches in memory. Instantly recognisable, the classic colouring of the green and purple championships towel is as at home on the beach as it is the tennis court. Made by Christy, using their exclusive Hygro cotton technology, the towel features a soft handle and a high absorbency that make it a perfect partner for those 5 set show downs. As used by the players on court at The Championships, Wimbledon Excellent absorbency Highly durable Soft handle Low linting Classic Wimbledon Colours 100% combed Hygrocotton pile 70cm x 133cm / 500 GSM" I've included the pictures so you can "instantly" recognize them next time. There is a Wimbleton tote bag for $430 - that feels cheap compared to that recent Birkin Hermes Bag.   Those TikTok stories of Wimbleton players "stealing" towels - the videos show them stuffing them into duffel bags.  Real or AI?  Now I've started to wonder about all kinds of things. Here's the Ostrich Parade at the Ringling Circus Museum.  It looks normal compared to the Wimbledon towel.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 12 2025 - Burger Time

Mairlyn's Photos - July 11 2025 - Birkin Bag

 

I must have forgotten who Jane Birkin was.  British and French.  Actress, singer and designer.  Somehow she was mighty famous to have her original Hermes bag sell for over $10 million.  She died in 2023.   There are lots of pictures of her - very photogenic- something important in the 1960s.  She was in the cast of "Death on the Nile" - what a cast that was - Bette Davis, David Niven, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith, Peter Ustinov, Jon Finch, I.S. Johar, Simon MacCorkindale, and Jack Warden in Death on the Nile (1978). Veranda.com has a year by year picture gallery of her from the 1960s to 1977 HERE.  It is all black and white images.  We could go to Vogue.co.uk to see the 25 looks that made her the ultimate summer style muse HERE.  Again, these are mostly black and white images.   And the Birkin bag?  You can see lots of pictures of her with her Birkin Bag througjh the years.  She must have liked that bag a lot. And our picture for today takes us towards the garden. I am very pleased to find this floral design from the Annual Lily Show - it is a handbag made of leaves with a lily decoration.

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Marilyn's Photos - JNuly 10 2025 - Pool Boy vs Golf Course Brawl

 

One year we went to Florida for Gerry to teach a lighting course.  We were at the famous PGA Golf Association resort.  There was an old guy there at the pool who told me he was the oldest pool boy in Florida - he was over 70 years old, he said.  But there is no news of the oldest pool boy - it isn't interesting.  Instead, there's lots of news about golf course brawling in West Kelowna.  An ex-NHL enforcer brawls slowpoke golf player.  I guess with that background, the news will get repeated over and over.   The "assailant" was thrown into a golf pond, and then "tossed him high through the air and onto some grass." Someone videoed all of this.  Was that a friend of foe? It is hard to guess, isn't it?   Brawling at golf courses doesn't make the headlines. OK, there's one:  "Insane six-man golf brawl breaks out during Father's Day round" June 2024.  That was at the Raccoon Hill Golf Culb in Kent, Ohio.   Mostly golf news is about top golfers "in search of first win of season" and "in a fight against himself" and  "counting memories before defense of Scottish Open" and so on.  And what about this one:  "The golf bug infects everyone eventually, and LeBron James is the newest star athlete to receive a bite."  In the repair shop at Strasburg Railroad.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 9 2025 - Fear of Missing Out

 

The New York Times has an article on AI int he classroom and reference the tech companies' sales strategy as being based on the "fear of missing out" - that students will be set up for failure if they don't use AI.   My generation is genuinely marvelling at what can be done by chatbots.  For people with low skills for composing, they are amazed at what is written on their behalf.  I listened to a conversation amongst people who I thought were educated. They had math and science skills and felt they didn't have good composing skills for emails and correspondence.  AI gets them up to and beyond the threshold of good writing.   That makes me think this is about the fear of missing out - of not being "good enough" or  being able to "keep up."  So would we expect it to improve their general writing skills?  I expect it will replace their correspondence and they will be dependent on it.  Is that what we want of school learning?  And I sure hope AI gets better at writing.  To me, a lot of what it writes is ingratiating, unctuous, flattering, insincere, obsequious, and fawning. There needs to be some AI to develop authenticity. Me, I seem to be going backwards. I've turned off spell-check. Gerry showed me where I could do this in my MAC so there's almost no word replacement, except for some programs online. I would rather have to read my work carefully than just blast along with a trail of weird words dangling behind.  Some of them were fun, though, and I will miss those surprise moments.  There's a colourful array of Muskoka Chairs.

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