May 24 2024 - Out of Mind

 

Out of sight out of mind - that means forgotten. "in mind" is used for "remembered".  Iwonder how we came about thinking of our "thoughts" as our "mind".  There  are lots of expressions with "mind" in them  Keep that in mind Time out of mind Changed my mind Pay him no mind Call to mind  What about "at the back of your mind" or "be in two minds" - there seem to be locations in there.  And "giving someone a piece of your mind".  Is there a loose bit in there?  Or maybe it is like a pie or a cake and you  give a piece to them.   It could have been münd, mend or mind - Middle English words that came out of the Old English word gemnynd which means memory.  We've had  thousands of years to give names to these things.  This word runs through our everyday actions and experiences.  There are dozens of philosophical expressions on the mind. Here is an interesting one:  The sky is not the limit.  Your mind is.  ~Marilyn Monroe Who would have guessed the author of that one?   Koi at the Royal Botanical Gardens conservatory water pond.

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Mar 28 2024 - Easter hits

 

What about Easter music? From Christian ballads and rock anthems to gospel masterpieces.  A breezy headline to get you to listen to a playlist for Easter that completely misses the mark of the greatest choral work of all time.  The Bach St. Matthew Passion is considered to be the greatest choral work ever written.  Some say of the entire "Western canon".  The other is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.   And how was the St. Matthew Passion received?  ... too hard, too long, too demanding, too operatic for Lutheran sensitivities. Not religious enough, too theatrical.  Don't play that again, please. Here's an interesting quote from an article on the work: "It took him one year to write the St. Matthew Passion, and it was performed only twice in his lifetime. It’s humbling to think I’ve listened to it more often than Bach himself.” Here's what Bach wrote as an explanation for why he though his music was so good: "My music is better because I work harder. Anyone who works as hard as me will write music that is just as good."  Bach's birthday is coming up - March 31st. Or it might be that it has passed - March 31st. There are two dates listed in biographies.  Beside each is  O.S. or N.S. - old style vs new style - that's when the calendars changed from Julian to Gregorian.    here's another of the Koi pictures.

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Oct 21 2023 - Optical Illusions

 

What do you think of optical illusions?  I've always enjoyed them.  The figure-ground shift images of of M.C. Esher's work has always been appealing.   TikTok creator Mia Yilin seems to have "discovered" optical illusion personality tests! The news media picks up these stories and repeats them - here's the newsmediaempire's coverage of this 'spot on' optical illusion that has exploded in popularity online to reveal what your reputation is and what your loved ones admire about your personality.  "This brainteaser was first shared on social media by the optical illusion specialist Mia Yilin, who has shocked users with her ability to read people’s personalities through her quirky psychological pictures." So I gave Google the test to find the sunflower seeds - that's the friendly personality and poor Google missed that one entirely and only found microscopic images of various things.  Not a sunflower seed in sight.   And how did that Daily Express article with a picture of Tom Hanks and a baby get associated with the two men vs sunflower seeds optical illusion? Another test of personality.

From the ridiculous to the sublime of Koi swimming.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feb 9 2023 - Ask Me Anything

 

Bing popped up today with Ask me anything... and a message that this is all new AI searching, give it a try.  I can't seem to be able to bring up the message again to find out more.  So I searched for "What's the new bing?" The timesofindia website has answered that question first.  "Microsoft has described the new Bing as “a research assistant, personal planner, and creative partner at your side whenever you search the web”. Bing can now answer real-world questions with human-like detailed answers." Windows Central has the story on this:  Microsoft just announced a new version of its Bing search engine. The new Bing uses ChatGPT technology to understand questions and generate answers. The search engine runs on the next generation of OpenAI's language model, which is significantly more capable than the version of ChatGPT that has been available since November 2022. A new version of Microsoft Edge will launch alongside the new Bing. That was yesterday, so we are experiencing the new search engine today.  The articles say you can ask anything - how to plan a dinner party, for example.  So I did that search, and I see the answer from paperless post.com looking visually pleasant.  I wonder if this is what they mean by Artificial Intelligence.  I asked what is the best way to see Niagara Ontario, and I get Niagara Falls, Ontario results.  I changed the search to: what are the best attractions in Niagara region, Ontario.  It is slightly enlarged, but still entirely focused on Niagara Falls.   We'll have lots of time to find out about it.   I wonder if Bing is more an illusion - like this Koi swimming into the reflections of the bridge railing.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Jan 31 2023 - Ice Fishing

 

Ice fishing. "Some anglers embrace the sport’s solitude while others relish the atmosphere of camaraderie a hut on a frozen lake has to offer." Why do seemingly normal people go out in extremely cold weather to venture onto a frozen snow and a windswept body of water to stare down through a hole in the ice to catch a fish?  And likely throw it back. No answers came forth.  Just advice on where to fish. There are a lot of places in Ontario. "Ontario can make all of your lake trout dreams come true. In addition to enjoying extensive opportunities for lake trout, the waters in which the fish are found are spread almost universally across the province." "The Bay of Quinte, in Prince Edward County is renowned for its trophy winter walleye fishing. The slightly deeper waters host sensational lake trout fishing." We are at the last day of January - a perfect moment to consider ice fishing.  Lots of frozen lakes in Ontario are waiting.   Here's an often-repeated ice fishing joke: A man is out ice fishing when he hears a voice say "You can't fish here!." He looks around and doesn't see anybody, so he goes back to his fishing. Again, out of nowhere the voice returns, more urgent this time, "You can't fish here!" He again looks around and says, "God?" "No, I'm the rink attendant. You can't fish here!" All of my fishing involves taking pictures of Koi in summer gardens or conservatories.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 30 2020 - Garden Stories of the Year

 

There are lots of 'best of' lists in newspapers this time of year.  It's the end of the year, so looking back, summarizing, choosing the best are the standard activities.   Britain's best garden was declared for 2020 and it is Marie and Tony Newton's garden in Walsall, England.  The story and pictures are HERE.   Retired medical doctor Tony Newton and his wife Marie have nestled 3,000 plants and flowers, including 450 azaleas, 120 Japanese maples and 15 blue star junipers into a one-quarter-acre plot of land.   This aerial view demonstrates the sheer volume of plants in their plot compared to their neighbours.  That's a lot of Japanese Maples that I see.     While this story is excellent, it really can't compete with the next one:  photographer builds adorable tiny log cabins for his backyard to keep mouse families safe from cats.  The story and pictures are HERE.     A meditative moment of koi fish is our image today.   They seem to be floating somewhere - like our hope that 2020 floats away ... far away.  Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Sep 8 2020 - Halloween Candy

 

Did you notice that Halloween candy is for sale?  There wasn't even any squash at the market yet.  I did see a massive pumpkin out on display on Greenlane, one of my favourite blossom trail roads.  Could this candy be for sale now because the manufacturers predict that there will be a limited Halloween?  I see lots of potato chips - the one 'candy' that we buy pretending it is for Halloween and snack on. And then go buy more stuff.   But it turns out that Halloween is already in the works this year.  There is pent-up energy for some fun and parents are getting creative this year. From a CTV new article HERE in August:   "Halloween falls on a Saturday under a full moon and on the last day of daylight savings time this year, a seemingly perfect convergence for a memorable fright night. Epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan says if the virus caseload is higher in October than where it is now, trick-or-treating is “probably not a great idea.” But if it's the same or lower, then “we can probably manage some semblance of trick-or-treat.” "Paige Cody of Ottawa is taking a creative stay-at-home approach. The mother of two youngsters plans to throw Easter and Halloween together for a Harry Potter-themed candy hunt. She’s told her daughter, 8, and son, 3, that they won’t be trick-or-treating but they will dress up as the wizarding characters, wave their wands, and fill their cauldrons with candy. She plans to hide baking ingredients, too, and to follow the sugary scavenger hunt with family time in the kitchen." Did you know that 44 percent of Canadians consider Halloween their favourite holiday? And an average $100 - $200 is spent?  I think Halloween this year is going to overrun Thanksgiving.  Pile on the pumpkins! A swimming koi today for our picture of the day.

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No Disappointmint

A few weeks ago, CBC radio had an interview with Sean Carroll, a theoretical physicist. His topic was scientists not actually understanding quantum mechanics.  They know how to work with it and have achievements based on it.  But actually understanding it has been elusive.   I looked him up and was attracted to the title of his bookend in particular, the word spacetime.  What about this expression - how long has spacetime been around? It was proposed by mathematician Hermann Minkowski in 1908 as a way to reformulate Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity (1905).   This is serious writing.  You don't retrieve Amazon products with the term spacetime unless you add the term Amazon.  How refreshing.  You retrieve university course curriculum, definitions and articles explaining it.  Lots of explanations.  Along the way, I found The Unemployed Philosophers Guild.  It says that it has thoughtful gifts for thinking people.   Einstein Relativity Mints. "In Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity, he describes gravity as a geometric property of space and time, commonly referred to as spacetime. This is not to be confused with dining, which is a combination of meals and time, commonly known as mealtime. Now, lunchtime and dinnertime can sometimes have an adverse impact on one's breath, making it difficult to have a goodtime and leading to a lot of alonetime. And that’s where Einstein's Relatively Strong Mints come in. After mealtime, snacktime, or anytime, eat one or two of these tasty mints and your breath will be fresh in notime. Before you know it, you'll be having a goodtime and looking forward to bedtime." The Philosophers Guild has many varieties of mints - such as  Experimints, Trumpzilla Mints, Atone Mints, Bob Ross Happy Little Mints, Batman Mint, Edgar Allan Poe's Tell Tale Mints, Trump Embarrassmints, Retiremints, and Impeachmints.   You can enjoy the mints page of the website HERE.  I checked out Frequently Asked Questions to find out more and this question is answered:  "Are all the mints really the same? How could they be? Most are peppermint flavored, but obviously the Empowermint is different from the Impeachmint." Here are a few images to be added to the Koi collection.

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Joking with Dewey Decimal

What makes Reader's Digest organize their jokes they way they do.  Dewey Decimal organization is not involved. Shouldn't Turkey Jokes be with the Animals - Dogs and Cats?  Instead Cat Puns are there with Bad Puns, Corny Jokes and Math Jokes.  Turkey Jokes could also be with Thanksgiving Jokes.  There is a lot of cross-over between the two. And wouldn't every bad pun be a pun so that puns would include bad puns?  You can see just the bad puns if you like. But wait!  The Reader's Digest has more novel ways of presenting their jokes - the History of the World in 27 Dumb Jokes is HERE. It starts with: Jurassic Period: Dinosaurs Q: Why can’t you hear a ptero­dactyl go to the bathroom? A: Because the pee is silent.   Circa 469 BC: The Birth of Western Philosophy Q: Who was Socrates’s worst student? A: Mediocrities. Q: Who was his busiest student? A: The one with a lot on his Plato. Back to the dog jokes on Reader's Digest - they distinguish dog jokes and dog puns.  Maybe they have a lot of dog jokes.  Here are a few: Q. Why aren’t dogs good dancers? A. Because they have two left feet! Q. How do dog catchers get paid? A. By the pound! Q: What do chemists’ dogs do with their bones? A: They barium! Q: What do you call a sad pup? A: mellon collie Q: What was the dogs favorite type of homework to do? A: A lab report Here's our Swimming Septet today, a continuation of Koi, the Living Art.

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A Moment

This feels like moments before Autumn arrives.  But that could not be the case as "Moments Before" is a term used for photos of people in their moments before death.  And we aren't about to embark on a haunting tale of how summer ended the planet. This seems to be another expression usurped by google search.  That's likely because it is compelling to click, rather than being the most common usage of a term.  Moment turns out to be used in so many idiomatic expressions as well as being a scientific term in physics, engineering, mathematics and so on. It is one of our time expressions - defined with respect to a fixed reference point. Archimedes' discovery of the operating principle of the lever is its starting point in the sciences. The evolution of the term 'moment' in the difference branches of science is unclear. Wikipedia explains moment in mathematics: "In mathematics, a moment is a specific quantitative measure of the shape of a function.  It is used in both mechanics and statistics. If the function represents physical density, then the zeroth moment is the total mass, the first moment divided by the total mass is the center of mass, and the second moment is the rotational inertia." It is clear to me I have little knowledge of mathematics when I read this. Looking at the idiomatic expressions, there's a great selection of terms: Kodak moment live for the moment magic moment man of the moment moment of truth moment of weakness never a dull moment not a moment to spare not a moment too soon not for a moment We can go to Kodak Moments - they are alive and well and publish a photo of the day called Kodak Moments.  All the pictures seem to involve people (ok there's one of two dogs). Taking pictures of Koi fish is capturing them in 'the moment' - where there is beauty in the way they curve, etc.  What do you think of this Koi, with its little black marks that seem to say '12'.

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And Then April Arrives

Which is it?  April Fools' Day or April Fool's Day.  Grammars.com tells me that it is plural possessive, and that the singular is a variant spelling.  I figured that it must be plural.  However, the usage is split evenly for each spelling.   What is the earliest reference? There is a dispute over Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (1392) reference to "Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two." The discussion is whether Chaucer meant this to be April 1st or whether it was a copying error. In 1508, French poet Eloy d'Amerval referred to a "poisson d'avril." There we have it - the expression used in France and other European countries.  In the past, the idea was to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed. In the U.K. the holiday 'ceases' at noon, according to Wikipedia. One can be called a 'fool', 'noodle', 'gob', 'gobby' or 'noddy' in England.  That's a lot of choices.  Other countries consider April Fools' jokes to finish by noon. After that they are considered inappropriate and not classy. Here's a preview of how outrageous April Fools' jokes have been: "I never did anything wrong, and I won't do it again," said former President Richard Nixon, announcing that he would run for president in 1992." National Public Radio’s piece on Nixon’s 1992 presidential run is one of its most famous April Fools’ Day pranks. Not only did people believe it, they were outraged. Here's today's image.