Oct 26 2023 - The Leaning Tower

 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in the news.  But it isn't the real leaning tower - it is another of Italy's leaning towers.  This one is in Bologna.   It is the Garisenda tower.  It is moving more than usual.   The Medieval Towers in Italy came about because they stood as a symbol of a clan's power and influence.  The higher the better.  Pisa is the most famous of all their leaning towers.  But there are, in fact, 10 leaning towers in the whole of Italy, mostly in Venice and Pisa. Typically, it is the "weak, unstable soil" that is the "reason" for the towers' leanings. Another cited reason is "the yielding of the ground".  A number of them started tilting from the beginning of their construction. You can see pictures of all the towers in this article HERE.  Did you know that because Pisa started to lean as the tower was being made. The builders decided to compensate for the tilt by building floors with one side taller than the other.  The Tower took two centuries of elapsed time to build - allowing for the underlying soil to settle. It was started in 1173, then stopped, resumed in 1271, then stopped, and finally resumed in 1360.  This Tower is known as the site where Galileo Galilei carried out his experiments to prove the Laws of Gravitation.  Do you want to see a modern leaning tower?  It is the 524.9-foot Capital Gate also known as the "Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi." The building inclines 18 degrees westwards — more than four times the lean of the Tower of Pisa. Capital Gate also holds the Guinness World Record for the farthest manmade leaning building.That's more than 4 times the Tower of Pisa.  It has been "built to lean."

Our CN Tower looks like an arrow launching to Heaven.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

More Golden Bone Stories

We are on a golden path - I don't know what the dog fountain's name is.  I've named it "The Golden Bone". People have had a lot of fun with this - there are many retrievals in google for the 'golden bone'.  I enjoyed the video title "Cue the music as Indiana 'Bones' rescues the Golden Bone.  Indiana Bones - Raiders of the Lost Bark. There is a Super Why Wooster's Journey To The Golden Bone.  Golden Bone Awards pop up in various places - the Strut Your Mutt charity drive in LA raised over $52,000 for pet rescue.   This title - "Academy Throws Golden Bone to World's Second Highest-Paid Actor." In 2016 Jackie Chan received an honorary Oscar. Another great title - BarkBox Golden Bone Contest - BarkPost. Our pictures are the beginning and closing views of the CN Tower in Toronto earlier this week.

The Close Call of the CN Tower

This is the view of the CN Tower from Koerner Hall.  We're on the second floor so it makes the CN Tower that much more visible.  The night-time view is excellent too.   "In 1995, the CN Tower was classified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The CN Tower shares this designation with the Itaipu Dam on the Brazil/Paraguay border, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, the Panama Canal, the Chunnel under the English Channel, the North Sea Protection Works off the European coast, and the Empire State Building." It is great when we moved to Toronto in 1976, as the tower had just been built and was ever-present in our news, advertising, conversations and skyline as that was before the high-rise boom.   I hadn't realized that the topping of the tower was an event that came close to tragedy. Here's the story on this.  A friend of ours at the time was involved in the placement of a camera on the antenna, so I must have forgotten the story of 'Olga" the Sikorsky helicopter and the lurching of the crane on the top of the tower.   The final piece of antenna was secured on April 2, 1975.

Blue Jays Excitement

In comparison to Friday's serene art viewing, Saturday was a Toronto trip to see the Blue Jays game with lots of energy and vitality. With a score of 10-8 for the Blue Jays, there were a lot of hits and home runs.  Even an interference by a fan who was ejected.  And the crowd had lots of energy and a big sound.