Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 18, 2025

Feb 18 2025 - Shakespeare and Snow

 

Did Shakespeare experience snow?  What would he say about the deep chill after the big snow storm? He grew up in the middle of England where there was snow and ice in the winter.   Rain, winds, cold and tempests show up in all his work - Blow, blow thou Winter wind sorts of things. I got to wondering about whether he mentions snow.  So went and checked it out.

In winter with warm tears I’ll melt the snow
And keep eternal spring-time on thy face
.
– Titus Andronicus; Act III, scene i


For never-resting time leads summer on
To hideous winter and confounds him there;
Sap cheque’d with frost and lusty leaves quite gone,
Beauty o’ersnow’d and bareness every where.

– Sonnet 5

Cold snow melts with the sun’s hot beams.
– Henry VI, Part 2, 3.1.224
 

That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow!
– A Midsummer Night’s Dream, 5.1.63
 

At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled shows,
But like of each thing that in season grows.
– Love’s Labor’s Lost, 1.1.109

We think of Shakespeare with spring and summer weather - especially with his most famous poem - Sonnet 18 - "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.?"  There are over seventy references to roses.  Definitely Shakespeare voted for roses over snow.

 

Isn't this excellent - I found this image of one of the Painted Ladies gardens in Grimsby Beach from a few winters ago.
 
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Monday, February 3, 2025

Feb 4 2025 - AI Generated Art

 

It is currently quite easy to recognize Artificial Intelligence use in art  Many of the pictures generated are not like real photographs, but like animation characters and scenes.  I went looking to find out the guidance on how to tell the difference between real and generated.

Here are some of the obvious differences:

AI-generated images usually have overly intense colours, including contrasting colours.

Mistakes in representation of the objects/subjects of the image.  One image failed to have 4 legs on a chair.  Where it is an AI-generated photo of people, the hands can be misplaced, and fingers wrong.  For city scapes, buildings can be missing and background geography features are wrong.  

Historical photos typically have mistakes such s illegible text, and errors on human body parts seem to be common.  Human facial expressions don't match the tone of the photo.  Technical mistakes are made, and oversimplified shapes and patterns exist.

This is the article to read to become better acquainted with evaluating AI images - HERE.

What was interesting for me was to check the image with "google lens" - take the image over to google search and and blue box will expand with 'drop image here'.  Real images seem to retrieve articles and websites.  

I tried this with my own images on Fine Art American and the google lens took me to my website or identified the subject of the picture - type of plant, Millie is a Cavalier King Charles, and so on.

When it is an AI-generated image, google lens doesn't retrieve the Fine Art America version - it goes to stock image sites and shows similar pictures.  But not exactly the same.  

Here's a sample of  images that are AI generated.  There are dozens of these bird images.  In the time I've written this, there could be hundreds of them.  By tomorrow, will there be thousands?  I will be suffocated by a flock of oversaturated, cute, round birds like in that Alfred Hitchcock movie.

A sense of humour is in order - so here's a joke:

Artificial intelligence might kill us all - with dad jokes.

 
 
I did enjoy the google lens response on this picture - it identified the blossom as a plum blossom rather than a cherry.  I guess it is hard to tell with all that snow on the blossoms.  But don't worry this picture is from a few years ago and the snow quickly melted leaving the blossoms unscathed.  
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Sunday, December 22, 2024

Dec 22 2024 - 51st State

 

It is Christmas and Trump is trolling Canada to become the 51st state.  If you want to give a surprise gift this Christmas check out this:

51st State: Master Set (2016) 

Build, deal and raise your state out of the ashes of the apocalypse. 

  • Alternate Names 51 Штат: Полный Набор + 4 more
  • Designer Ignacy Trzewiczek
  • Artist Grzegorz Bobrowski
  • Publisher Portal Games + 2 more

The world you know no longer exists. There is no government. No army. No civilization. The United States have collapsed. And now, thirty years after the war started, new powers finally try to take control over the ruined country, try to establish a new order, try to control others and create a new country, a new State: the 51st State.

51st State is a card game in which players control one of the four powers (mutants, traders, New Yorkers and Appalachians) and try to build their very own new country. Players put new locations into the game, they hire leaders, and send people to work in buildings to gain resources and new skills.

Every card in 51st State can be put into play in three different ways. You can invade a location to gain many resources once, or you can sign a contract with this location to gain one resource every turn, or you can attach the location to your State so you can use its skill. One card, three possibilities. Lots of decisions and choices that matter.


It is unnerving, isn't it?  SO let's go on to Christmas entertainment. 

How much did Santa pay for his sleigh?
Nothing – it was on the house.

A gingerbread man went to the doctor’s complaining of a sore knee.
“A sore knee?” the doctor said. “Have you tried icing it?”

How did Scrooge win the football game?
The Ghost of Christmas passed.

What is Santa’s favourite kind of pizza?
One that’s deep-pan, crisp and even.


The Christmas jumper my kids gave me last year kept picking up static electricity.
I took it back and exchanged it for another one – free of charge.

 
 
Here's a bit of nostalgia from the Orchard Crescent garden in Toronto - this is the little willow chair in the snowy woods behind the house.  
 
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Friday, December 20, 2024

Dec 20 2024 - Christmas Attire

 

Attire seems the correct word for what is worn for Christmas pictures - matching "oatmeal" sweaters are on the front page of the Globe and Mail's Christmas photos coverage.  Sounds elegant for Christmas attire.

Last Saturday, I saw a family - mother, father, and baby -  at the Watering Can in matching pyjama-sort of outfits like this below.  I don't remember if they had reindeer antlers on their heads.  That pyjama/sweat pants look is creepy to me, and got creepier every time I saw them again. 
 
 The female staff in Shoppers Drug mart were wearing elf dresses yesterday.They are a retro 50s style, so that must mean this is a trend gaining momentum.  Halloween is very popular, so why not dress up at Christmas given all the opportunities.  The trend is more towards women's vintage 1950s dresses.  If you remember the dresses in the movie White Christmas, that's the look.  Even with white gloves.  Not as many pajama outfits this year.  But maybe families all own the matching pyjamas, so are being pitched something different this year. 

As I look through the dozens of pictures, I notice that  the dog dress Christmas Candy costs more than the Elves Blue Reindeer jumpsuit for people.  What do you think of this?

Here's a retro style dress with a novel print - white gloves would go with this outfit - I wonder if this is a Christmas Carol.  And we're back to asking why this dress is listed for $34 compared to a dog outfit for $48.

Here's a holiday greeting from a few years ago - let's see if this much snow falls today.
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Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Nov 27 2024 - Predicting Snow

 

I had this thought about the weather.  What if  the first snow happened every year on the exact same date?  For example, the Winter Solstice.  Weather completely predictable.  That is hard to imagine here in the Norther Hemisphere.  

One of our major activities is "forecasting" the weather and then "commenting" on it.  We do that as an accepted social gambling game activity - it is unpredictable, changeable at a moment's notice, and often a surprise.  Who knows who will win the predictability challenge each day?

Do you want predictable? Think Ecuador - that's what I read.  The weather in Ecuador " is consistent throughout the year. Since the country is at the equator, the sunshine is also steady and hence, these conditions make the country one of the places with the best weather in the world.'  The predictable weather in the world is in regions of either the polar high or the tropic low.

At the opposite end of things, the most unpredictable weather in the U.S. is Rapid City, South Dakota.  The Great Plains and Upper Midwest are the most unpredictable areas in the world. The other places in the world are:  The Monsoon Coasts of Asia, the British Isles and the Mediterranean Basin. 

With climate change, the weather has become a complicated search subject.  I wondered if Ontario has the most variable weather in Canada. Instead, the topics cover the question of whether things are normal variability or variable due to climate change.  

But it doesn't matter as it turns out that Atlantic Canada has the most changeable and most variable climates anywhere in the country.  The worst weather is accorded to Newfoundland and Labrador.  Volatile weather conditions and frequent storms.  Yikes.  

The prediction of the Weather Network is that we have our first snow on Friday, November 29th and it goes for a whole week.  I hope that weather forecast is incorrect.
Look at the back garden in 2018 after a massive snow fall.  Paths for Dezi and Baxter to get around - otherwise they might 'drown' in the snow.  Below that is the shed in the Toronto garden, a tranquil scene in comparison.
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Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Oct 20 2024 - Rain Ahead

 

Everyone has commented on the beautiful weather.  It has been late summer temperatures and we are rolling into November.  But by the end of the sentence of delight,  people take a breath of despair and "gloom" about the upcoming season of winter.    The weather forecast does not look gloomy at all - it shows rain in the forecast over the next week weeks, rather than snow.  

Is it true that everyone has this gloomy projection?  Or just the people in my age group?  That's who I see the most.  I expect it is the case.  That is what makes for snow birds.  As one ages, the spectre of cold winter snow chases one down to Florida.

For those who want to grimace,  there is a website named snowchance.com - with the headline "Chance of Snow Storms this Winter.  Enter Any Location.  Below that are the standard headlines - Abou , Contact Us, Help and FAQ, and then - oddly - Edmonton.  Of course there is a "chance of snow storms for Edmonton, Alberta covering the 2024-2025 snow season."  

Grimsby is expected to get a snow storm in November.  Of course, we know that.  The lake effects are strong in November and so our great snowstorm a few years ago has given rise to the Snowvember Storm in 2014.
 

I've been processing images of water, particularly ripples and reflections.  I found this one from Victoria Harbour from a visit years ago. What an intensity of colour and wonderful lyrical shapes of the motion blur effects.
 
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Sunday, March 24, 2024

Mar 242024 - Marilyn's Photos - Stupid Life Hacks

Stupid seems to be a favourite word today. Isn't this is proven by the headline "Stupid Life Hacks?" It doesn't really make sense given the meaning - "having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense."   It showed up in 1541 in the English language, but since 2000 it has exploded in popularity.

Maybe it is so used because it has so many similar words and comparable meanings.  There are somewhere upwards of 447 similar and opposite words in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  

I found this list in one of the dictionaries and had to put it into alphabetical order to make some sense of it. 

 

absurd
asinine
astute
barmy
batty
birdbrained
boneheaded
bovine
brain-dead
brainless
chuckleheaded
clever
cock-eyed
crackbrained
cracked
crazy
cretinous
cuckoo
daft
damfool
dense
derpy
dim
doltish
dopey
dotty
dozy
dull
dull-witted
dumb
dunce-like
dunderheaded
empty-headed
fat-headed
fatuous
foolish
fruitless
futile
glaikit
gormless
gullible
half-baked
halfwitted
harebrained
idiotic
ignorant
ill-advised
ill-considered
imbecile
imbecilic
inane
indiscreet
inept
injudicious
insane
intelligent
irresponsible
lamebrained
laughable
loony
loopy
ludicrous
lunatic
mad
meaningless
mindless
moronic
muttonheaded
naive
nonsensical
not the full shilling
nutty
obtuse
off one's head
off one's trolley
Opposite:
out to lunch
peabrained
pig-ignorant
pointless
potty
prudent
ridiculous
risible
scatterbrained
screwy
senseless
sensible
short-sighted
silly
simpleminded
slow
slow on the uptake
slow-witted
soft in the head
thick
thick as two short planks
thickheaded
unintelligent
unthinking
unwise
vacuous
vapid
View 2 vulgar slang words
witless
wooden
wooden-headed
zany

We've found something starting with almost every letter of the alphabet!

What do you think of the "view 2 vulgar slang words" that is in there - I wouldn't have noticed this if it wasn't sorted. 

And then check out the chart below showing the use of the word stupid over time. I think this is a Google Ngram. More on this feature HERE.

 Is this worrisome?  What does it signify?  There certainly are a lot of people asking questions about other people being stupid.  

Peter Kaufman's article on the sociology of stupidity proposes how "stupid" actually works:

"let’s not forget that the phrase “stop being so stupid” is often followed-up by “because you are embarrassing us.”


 



We have snow every year rain the last week of March.  This is picture is from 2021 when there was a huge snowstorm in April while the Magnolias were blooming.  The snow melted, and they bloomed.  There isn't any news so far in March on the state of the tender fruit crop.  We had very warm weather and then very cold weather.  

 
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Friday, January 12, 2024

Jan 12 2024 - Winter Wallop vs Snow Disruption

Last week's weather forecast said we were in for a winter wallop.  This morning the news is that Quebec is in for disruptive snow.  How is snow disruptive?  

There are headlines of snow disruptions in various places - Italy, Austria, Slovenia, in parts of South Africa.  There are snow disruptions forecast now for Britain.

It looks like major winter storms are what makes for "disruption".  For Quebec this weekend, it will be a combination of snow, ice, and rain.  Not only will Quebec get some, but the UK weather report warns of disruptive snow and temperatures of -10C and Britain is on flood alert.  Even Northern Ireland is "braced" for disruptive snow showers.  I didn't know that snow "showered" - I thought that would be rain.  They are also getting ready for a 200 mile wide arctic blast.  In another ominous article: "a mammoth band of snow will first hover over the north of Scotland on Sunday..."

We in Canada can look to  Environment Canada for all things weather and the website has this matter-of-fact sort of summary:  "Canada has one of the most severe winter climates of any country in the world. We experience a wide variety of dangerous weather conditions including extreme cold, blinding blizzards, and treacherous ice storms. Even conditions more typical of the warmer months such as heavy rain and lightning are possible in winter."

Environment Canada has over 20 different types of alerts for various weather hazards - but none of them are "disruptive snow".  Our cross-Canada alert for this week is extreme cold. That sounds unfriendly but not as alarming as disruptive snow.


Here's a snow load in the making. 

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Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Dec 27 2023 - The Silk Dress Cypher Code

 

This news came out mid-December, and spread far and wide as one of those mystery stories. It is about a woman who bought an antique silk dress and found messages in the secret pocket.  It is one of the top 50 cipher mysteries that was unsolved until last year.  Why it became big Christmas news is likely another story.  

Here's the story:  “My first thought was maybe a writing exercise? Or some kind of list,” she wrote in the February 2014 post detailing her exciting find. Rivers-Cofield went on to add: “[...] I'm putting it up here in case there's some decoding prodigy out there looking for a project.”

The post made its way into the orbit of cryptographers around the world who relish the challenge of cracking codes.

University of Manitoba researcher Wayne Chan took on the project and, ten years after Rivers-Cofield stumbled upon the dress, published the answer in Cryptologia, a scientific journal devoted to cryptology.

Turns out "Bismark Omit leafage buck bank" was a weather observation for May 27, 1888, in what is today Bismarck, N.D.  

At the time, the U.S. and Canadian governments had an agreement to exchange weather information by telegraph.

That's how names of Canadian cities got into the Silk Dress cryptogram.

It includes observations from stations in Calgary, Minnedosa, Man., Winnipeg and Prince Arthur's Landing — modern-day Thunder Bay, Ont. — which all shared a telegraph line that connected to Milwaukee, Wis., and routed messages to Washington through New York.

This line described a cool spring day at the Fort Garry weather station in Winnipeg:  "Garry Noun Tertal lawful palm novice event."

HERE's an article that is detailed on the dress and what makes the code so interesting.  The author talks about them being similar to the "semi-improvised (yet complex) rum-runner codes).  And a second one here with the locations mapped.  Everything about this story is fascinating.

The picture shows the notes.  The second article maps the locations across Canada and the U.S. of the silk dress cipher code.  Some of the analysis is included.

This is a snowy day at Charles Daley Park - it has excellent hills for tobogganing - all hill no trees.  The only drawback is that the hill goes into Lake Ontario on the north side and into the lagoon on the east side.  It seems to be that toboggans stop before they enter the water, as far as I can tell.  Or not.  Last year, there were fences attempting to stop snow sledding on the slopes.

A boxing day picture. 

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Saturday, December 16, 2023

Dec 16 2023 - Those Gifts

 

Christmas is very close.  Some now is the time to buy the rest of those gifts.  What are the "perfect gifts?" Or just a good gift to have on hand for an anyone.  Buy it now, figure out who later.   I think that would be chocolates.

What about this gift for dog owners?

Dexas MudBuster Portable Dog Paw Cleaner
"Tracking mud into the house will be a ghost of Christmas past, thanks to this portable paw washer. All pet parents have to do is fill the cup with warm water and dip and twist their dog’s paws for an easy wash on the go. It's a gift they're sure to love you for."

And this one for travellers and people who lose their car keys or house keys?

Apple AirTag
"If you're really having trouble thinking of a gift and want something you know they'll use, get them an Apple AirTag. This nifty device is especially helpful for keeping track of luggage and backpacks, and once it's synced with someone's phone, all they have to do is drop it in their bag and never think about it. The next time an airline loses their suitcase, they'll know exactly where it is (and they'll know exactly who to thank)."


There is something for those who think they are handy with tools or for someone who needs to get handy with tools

Geekey Multi-Tool
"Essentially a handyman in your pocket, this TSA-friendly tool does it all. It fits on your keychain and has more than 16 functions, including a bottle opener, screwdriver, ruler, wrench, bit driver, file, and bike spoke key."


The rest of the products are not what I would call gifts for anyone/everyone?  Would you give  CUISINART SM-50 mixer at $250 US to someone you don't know.  I'd go for the Geek Multi-Tool or a box of chocolates.
 

This is a 2023 mid-March picture of Millie in the garden.  I am expecting to take another one like this somewhere around Christmas. We are making bets on when the snow will descend upon us.

I should buy me the paw cleaner.

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Friday, December 8, 2023

Dec 8 2023 - Christmas Songs

 

There are almost 10,000 Christmas Songs.   As far as music statistics go, there are over 900,000 Christmas tracks representing over 180,000 songs by over 60,000 artists. 

Who is the number 1 artist for highest count of songs?  Bing Crosby, next is Frank Sinatra, then Elvis Presley, and Nat King Cole.  Finally, in position 5 comes Johann Sebastian Bach.  Then the list returns to artists of the 20th century and all American.  Maybe not Mario Lanza.  

Bing Crosby's White Christmas has nearly a million Christmas tracks with just over 2,000 being the actual Bing Crosby classic.  That's 2,000 different albums that contain Bing's version of White Christmas. 

What is the next highest released Christmas track?  Earth Kitt's Santa Baby at around 1200.

What about those Christmas carols?  Silent Night has almost 20,000 recordings.  And what would be next? White Christmas is next at almost 16,000 recordings. 

And if we all love to sing Christmas carols, then Karaoke Christmas songs contribute to the list.  Over 23,000 tracks of them.

Perhaps my generation is allowed to be a little weary of Christmas and its music.  Or maybe we are the generation that keeps it going so strong.  All those nostalgic hits from the early to mid 20th century.

Here's a different version of White Christmas.  It seems a bit eerie.

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