Russia - A Nation of Humour!

Did you know there is a very long tradition of Russian Political jokes?  I find this out from Wikipedia.  The jokes start with Imperial Russia and conclude with Post-soviet Russia.  They are HERE.  A Bloomberg article with the best jokes is HERE. Bloomberg's article, as with Wikipedia, demonstrates that Russian humour about the way the country is run is an unbroken tradition from the czarist era to the present day.  The article's author, like me, finds that many of them aren't funny.  But there are some great jokes in the article.  Here is Reagan's joke. "The CIA-Reagan Soviet joke pipeline was no secret at the time. One from a list declassified in 2013 was a particular favorite — Reagan told it repeatedly, once adding he’d shared it with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and gotten a laugh from him. The CIA version goes like this: An American tells a Russian that the United States is so free he can stand in front of the White House and yell, “To hell with Ronald Reagan.” The Russian replies: “That’s nothing. I can stand in front of the Kremlin and yell, ‘To hell with Ronald Reagan,” too. Two more from Wikipedia: A Gulag joke: Three men are sitting in a cell in the (KGB headquarters) Dzerzhinsky Square. The first asks the second why he has been imprisoned, who replies, "Because I criticized Karl Radek." The first man responds, "But I am here because I spoke out in favor of Radek!" They turn to the third man who has been sitting quietly in the back, and ask him why he is in jail. He answers, "I'm Karl Radek." A Stalin joke: Stalin reads his report to the Party Congress. Suddenly someone sneezes. "Who sneezed?" Silence. "First row! On your feet! Shoot them!" They are shot, and he asks again, "Who sneezed, Comrades?" No answer. "Second row! On your feet! Shoot them!" They are shot too. "Well, who sneezed?" At last a sobbing cry resounds in the Congress Hall, "It was me! Me!" Stalin says, "Bless you, Comrade!" and resumes his speech. Our pictures today come from Moyer Road - this is the road that Vineland Estates Winery is located on.  This silver barked bush along the side of the road is very photogenic as it is.  It becomes the texture for an abstract pattern created in photoshop.

Autumn at the Aga Khan Park

The Aga Khan Museum and Park has been planted for an autumn show of colour.  I went to see what the display looked like.  There is a depth and height of the building on the landscape that is remarkable and is created with the reflecting infinity pools. I was looking for these reflecting pools to create magic with the orange and red leaves of the trees, and for the white building to contrast with the colours and magnify the intensity of colour. You can see the effects of the reflecting pool in the second picture. I didn't find the brilliance of colour that might have been - with the high winds of the last few weeks, there aren't many leaves on the trees.  With the multi-stemed trees, there will be many branches on the trees.  As they mature over time, the show will be something to see.

The Winery Route - Golden Roads

Here in Niagara, there were lots of people on the wine trail on the weekend.  Sunday was a beautiful day and the colour of the Maples was at its best.  Here are a few images froth Fonthill area, one of the prettiest areas in the Niagara peninsula.

RBG - Solitary Glow

At RBG last week, this crab apple glowed above the meadow grasses.

Autumn Breezes

At Royal Botanical Gardens this week, a wonderful landscape of wheat grasses and a gorgeous red tree all swaying to the Autumn Breeze.

A City in a Park

A City in a Park.  That's the slogan that's on many of Toronto's park signs.  If you turn your head to the right as you drive over the Mimico Creek Bridge on Bloor Street in Toronto Ontario Canada, this is what you'll see.  It looks like a pastoral rural scene, not a busy city centre.  Yet Toronto is a city of ravines with parks  and also the largest city in Canada.  And this combination makes it a comfortable and pleasant place to live.

Of course I had to pay to park to take this photo, as this is Toronto with its forest of parking meters, but I'd stopped in at Vince's, the little grocery shop, to buy a few things and took advantage of the benefit of all of these worlds at once.


   Where are your favourite parks and scenic landscapes in and about Toronto?  I would love to hear about them...

Traversing the Garden...continues

With so many varieties of hosta in the garden, it is wonderful to see the variations in fall colours.  Here's a golden hillside.

More Lake Ontario

Well, there are so many possible views of the Lake.  It's just getting out to them.  Here's a view of the Toronto skyline from Humber Bay.  You can see that the view is less spectacular than the grasses and the shrubs.  It's been cloudy off and on, so we haven't had those blue skies of a few weeks ago.

I was in Port Credit on the weekend, and pointed my camera at a stream that was in a park on the lake.  It was the pretty view of the day.

Hidden Bench This Week

Autumn at Hidden Bench was marvellous in this last week - the third week of October, 2010.  The storm clouds were moving across the horizon to the south of the vineyards, with the full sun shining on the golden foliage.

The signature Hidden Bench label.

Do you have a favourite Niagara Vineyard with a few?  Let me know where you've found wonderful vistas and rolling hills!

Living on the Lake

Do you have a favourite Lake Ontario view?  I checked out a few this week.


This one is in Pickering Ontario.  You can see the nuclear generating station and the wind turbine on the landscape.

Here's a view of Port Credit's pier a little later in the week.  Both share beautiful big blue skies and sparkling water.

Let me know if you have a favourite view to share.
Marilyn

Eastminster United Fall Festival

Eastminster United Church on the Danforth just east of Broadview had a fall festival on Saturday. I participated by exhibiting my work and selling greeting cards.  I got to meet some great artists - all members of the Riverdale Artists Network, an excellent organization supporting artists in Toronto.

The highlight of the day was bringing the camel into the church for the blessing of the animals.  What a sight!  It was after the camel left that I noticed the intricate carving of the Last Supper at the alter with these fall leaves in front.

October's Calendar - Dancing Leaves

For October's image, autumn's colours show on a Sumach Tree, with reds and oranges.

Catching Up with Niagara's Harvest

It's a short drive from Toronto to the vineyards of Niagara.  They start in the Grimsby area and continue right to the Niagara River.  These shots were taken in the Grimsby area at Hidden Bench and Angle's Gate wineries.

Last Fruit Standing

These rows of old apple trees are near Ralph Suttell's place in Beamsville.  Ralph is the dahlia grower whose dahlias have been showcased here and on my website.  These photos were taken on the weekend - the first time in December that I can remember everything still looking like autumn.  The late afternoon light made long shadows across the field and turned everything golden.

Autumn Colour Gardens

Fall is the time when a garden's colours are the biggest and the brightest - it's all in the trees. Japanese Maples, Flowering Dogwoods, Gingkos...these are a few of the small garden trees with spectacular colour. I went to Shari Ezyk's garden last week and caught sight of what's possible with artful planting.

Enjoying the Weather Whatever it is

It was cold in Toronto last week, and this week it's warmed up with a mix of sun and cloud. Today was a very overcast day with rain. It makes all the colours stand out so much - the trees look luminescent. Here in the city, I don't see great sweeping landscapes. I see small vignettes and beautiful close-ups. Here are some photos from this week in my neighbourhood at Royal York and Blook. I hope you enjoy the colours wherever you live!

Autumn Abstracts

I was in Niagara this past week and stopped along Highway 8 so that I could take some photos of the beautiful fields of purples, yellows and browns with asters and teasels everywhere.

Here are some of the images.