Marilyn's Photos - Oct 18 2025 - David Attenborough at 99

 

David Attenborough is 99 years old and made history yesterday by winning a 2024 Emmy Award for his show Netflix’s Secret Lives of Orangutans. The article says:  “That makes Attenborough, 99, a hair older than Van Dyke, who was 98 when he won the Guest Performer in a Daytime Drama Series Emmy last year for his appearance on Peacock’s Days of Our Lives.” He’s 25 years older than me and still working.  How is that possible?  There’s always an answer these days. Google says: “his longevity is attributed to a lifestyle that includes a passionate sense of purpose, staying physically active, a plant-focused diet with less red meat, and maintaining a deep connection to nature.” There are many articles on this subject when he turned 99 in March 2025.  Probably we can go back five years and there will be a string of these articles.   He is a popular topic in the press. Other articles outline some medical issues - cardiovascular and mobility issues, including knee replacement surgery and a pacemaker.  We love to keep track of old, older and oldest, and the oldest person is a woman at 116 years old - Ethel Caterham.  It is a little to very late, but let’s all wish him Happy Birthday!

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Marilyn's Photos - Sep 30 2025 - Truth and Reconciliation Day

 

Today is National Truth and Reconciliation Day.  It was started in 2013 and became a statutory holiday in 2021. We are one of 40 nations who have had reconciliation commissions.  South Africa observes the Day of Reconciliation on December 16th - originally the day  commemorating the victory over the Zulus in 1838.   Argentina had the National Commission of the Disappearance of Persons and observes March 24th as the National Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.   Sierra Leone, South Korea, and Chile have formed truth and reconciliation commissions to investigate past injustices and make them part of the public record. In total there are 40 countries that have established truth commissions. There are 195 countries in the world.  Mind the gap, so to speak. How many reconciliation commissions do some countries need? One for the indigenous population and one for the Black population if you look at U.S. history.  They had a commission for those interred during the second world war - that happened in 1988 and by 1992 the U.S. government had disbursed over $1.6 billion to almost 83,000 Japanese Americans. Canada had one of those as well.  In Canada, reparations to First Nations and Indigenous peoples is part of the process - both individual compensation and Treaty settlements.  Can you imagine what the compensation will be for treaty annuities dating back to the 1800s that are owing?  What about land "confiscated" and no treaty is in place?  Modern treaties, self-government arrangements, resource and land management rights - there are still so many things to work out.  So much has changed in 50 years.  Back then our education in our primary and secondary school system was from the colonialist's perspective.  Today there is a mandatory Indigenous-focused curriculum for primary and secondary school grades. In our adult world, it is CBC radio and television that give an Indigenous perspective.  My favourite radio show is Rosanna Deerchild's "Unreserved."  Here's part of her introduction to the weekly series: "We are based in what is now known as Canada. Rosanna hails from O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation at South Indian Lake in northern Manitoba, and now lives and works in Winnipeg (Treaty 1)." Can you imagine how much unlearning potential there is in that phrase -  "what is now known as Canada."  If we just started with learning and unlearning place names, we could become fluent in a number of Indigenous languages.  I vote we start with Lake Louise "Ho-run-num-nay. (or Horâ Juthin Îmne), which translates to "Lake of the Little Fishes" in the Stoney Nakoda language. The name reflects the small size of the fish in the cold glacial waters of the lake."   We move on to our picture today. This is what a September garden can look like - annuals are at their peak in September  with lots of vibrant colours on mature plants.

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Marilyn's Photoso - Aug 18 2025 - Let's micro-exercise

 

What is a micro-exercise? The promise is that it is short, high-intensity exercise sessions that last between one to ten minutes.  Do this multiple times throughout the day.   Other names for it?  "Exercise snacks."  And these ones are a minute or less.  Squat jumps for 20 seconds, stair climbing, or a 60-second run down the block.  They are "short-and-sweet" such as a 20-second bike "sprint snack" is which you pedal as fast as you can.  Everything to appeal to people who don't have time or attention to exercise. "Preliminary research suggests that among people who typically sit for eight hours per day, those who completed five 4-second cycling sprints every hour during the workday (for a total of 160 seconds of exercise) had 31% lower triglyceride levels and 43% higher body-fat metabolism the next day. How's that for a satisfying snack?" - this comes from eatingwell.com  Seems odd to me that exercise is equated to eating - not sure that should be encouraged.   "Let's go for a juicy run." "Dig into those lunges for a quick minute."

August is a happy time for annuals - here's Cosmos - a pretty pink, purple or white daisy flower. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - July 29 2025 - It is Greek Yogurt for the Windows

 

There is another heat warning map on the Weather Network site today.  I prefer the radar map with the clouds and rain passing over. My greenhouse gets extraordinarily hot in the summer,  even though there's a tree next to it and shades part of it.  When the greenhouse was built, 100 years ago or more, it would have had a whitewash coating in the summer.  It would have been calcium carbonate-based chalk agents and mixed with water then painted on the windows.  I remember the brush strokes on the greenhosue windows of Niagara Falls.  The products are still available and it looks like some of the commercial greenhouses might have shading paint.   So I wonder what the headlines are that one should coat one's windows with Greek Yogurt.   Do you think it might attract insects and rodents? What about dogs - I expect Millie would bark at the smell and want to lick the glass. Do you think cleaning yogurt off a window will be easy?    This is just a silly hack, isn't it?  But it got me thinking about the cooling methods.  Because it is the roof that needs the shading, and that's way up there - 14 feet -  I guess this was just a thought today.  And looking into a silly hack.     Remember yesterday's Mingle Hill flowers?  Here they are as the starting point for a series of abstracts.  There's the original picture, a watercolour version that is abstracted and made high key (brighter).  Then there's an example ofo one of the results of  the Flaming Pear filters. Next are the variations using Diptic for the collage presentation, and one final version with further edits in photoshop with the French Kiss "brushes".   A great distraction for yesterday - another very hot day.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 28 2025 - Men Wearing Makeup

 

Melania Trump photos with no makeup. There was a headline that she was spotted without any makeup on.   It sounds like she's got no clothes on, doesn't it?  They refer to Trump that way too - he's the emperor with no clothes these days.  Here's a screen-clip from an article on "What Melania Trump looks like nearly makeup-free" - it is HERE at glam.com.  Compare that to now with her eyes covered in so much black stuff that they are slits in a sea of smoke.     I expect male celebrities all wear makeup, too.  And with the significant difference between makeup and no makeup, you wonder if more men now wear makeup compared to 20 years ago. Current estimates are 15% of (heterosexual) men between 18 and 34 wear makeup in the US.  I noticed how heterosexual included in there just to let you know. Here's a picture to show you the before and after.  There are many stories of men proclaiming that they are now wearing makeup.    Just like boy babies used to wear pink, it was the case that men wore makeup in earlier times.  The decline in the 19th century was due to that influential Queen Victoria who associated makeup with lower social status - vulgarity and immorality and femininity.  She's not been around for a long time, so now there is a growing interest in makeup - social media, male beauty influencers and more fluidity in gender roles - seem to be the influences. Is this possibly also an influence - Donald Trump wearing makeup? Or is the question how does he get so orange?  With all those photos beside Melanie with the smoked out eyes, orange skin fits in.   Here's one answer on his makeup: "I think it's some sort of fake tan or some sort of tinted moisturizer with bronzer, and he's then used powder with it. It's definitely some sort of cream product that he uses and has probably mattified it after because it's so orange," and added: "You can see the rim around his face. If you look closely at his hairline, it's very pale, and that's not from sunbeds; he's slapping some sort of cream product on." - professional makeup artist Safia Cox  That word - mattified - means reduce shininess of skin. Here's a pretty flower picture - flowers all ready to make pposies. This was at the Mingle Hill Flower Farm Festival yesterday and I went with Millie. There was a nice couple selling expensive homemade dog treats, so Millie got a bag.  She wanted to stay with the couple rather than come home.

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Marilyn's Photos - July 15 2025 - Never Retire

 

Never retire.  Bob Dylan is still touring at the age of 84.  That seems astonishing.  He's touring with Willie Nelson, and he's 92.   Paul McCartney is coming to the renovated Hamilton Colliseum.  He's 83 years old.  And the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger is 81 years old.  But they cancelled their UK and European tour for 2025 due to logistical challenges.  They are planning a 2026 tour.  What do I think these aged rock singers have in common?  While some of them never sang well, all of them don't sing well anymore.  I can't imagine listening to a concert of Paul McCartney with the quaver of the very old vocal chords.   Even worse, to my ear is Willie Nelson with a voice that has always been unpleasant.  He supposedly has a "songwriter's voice." That sounds like code for writes better than he sings.  Here's one Quora writer's take on his voice: "Like a wonderful blanket crocheted by your favorite relative.  The one you've had for 30-years. Oh sure, there are some tattered corners, mended holes and faded colors;  but all of these things are why you love it so…soft in all the right places." Another quote:  "Mannered.  He doesn't really sing as much as he "talks tunefull'. Does Bob Dylan have a songwriter's voice?  Here's one contribution to Reddit: "I've literally not met one person that likes Bob Dylan's singing. So is it that weird that I think he's a great singer?"   There is a lot of analysis on Bob Dylan's voice. My observation is that Bob Dylan doesn't sing in the key that the band is playing in.   And here's a joke in that reddit post:   "Dylan and Mick Jagger were arguing about who was a better musician. Dylan posited that Jagger could not have written Mr. Tambourine Man, but Dylan could have written Satisfaction. To which Jagger replied "Yeah, but could you sing it?"

Here's the result of yesterday's watercolour class.

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Mar 27 2025 - Do this every night

 

If you were in a contest and had to give advice on what things a person should do every night, what would you advise?  My only suggestion:   Brush your teeth.  Am I out of the picture on this. Other people have a whole lot more advice than this:  Prepare Your Breakfast. One of the biggest time-sucks in the morning is preparing breakfast Lay Out Your Clothes For the Next Day. You can save precious time in the morning by … Put Everything You’ll Need by the Door. Pack your bag or briefcase with everything that you’ll...  Review Your Day. You’ve probably heard that journaling for a few minutes is a good way to … There are 6 more things you should do in this top article.  There are 15 things that womensalphabet.com thinks we should do every night.  That's 5 more than the first article.   And which of the following  articles draws your attention? Remember to complete each sentence with "every night" 6 easy cleaning tasks 10 awesome things  12 super relaxing things 11 things successful people do 6 little things sleep doctors actually do 7 things men should do 7 stoic things you must do  5 movements to do  Once you wake up, then there are things you should do every morning: 5 things to do for an amazing day 15 healthy things 30 morning routine ideas for a happy 5 best should and neck stretches 9 morning routine habits for a happier start 10 things highlight successful people do  6 little things sleep doctors actually do  13 things the happiest healthiest women do So you went to bed doing these "n" things, got up and did these "n" things and now the day is underway.  Do these "n" things: 30 things you should do every day to make your life better 74 examples of daily activities 60 daily routines examples 10 productive things 7 life-changing exercises And Google?  It lists 250 articles out of a supposed153,000,000 results in the big cloud database. Its conclusion at that point "There are no results for do this every day during the day."

Orchids at RBG. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 26 2025 - More Bad Portraits

 

How many selfies do you take each day?  Each week?  Supposedly, the world population takes 92 million selfies a day. There's a type of selfie named a .5 selfie.  That's the picture that is angled above one's head and the taker's arm uses up quite a lot of the space in the picture. It is a wide-angle lens picture so the photo will have distortions.  You could be very w-i-d-e.  Maybe it is previous generations who complain about how they look in photos and that they don't like getting their picture taken?  Looking at the headlines, it seems that if one has a "photogenic" face with symmetrical proportions, etc photography is a good thing.  And for the rest, too bad, lots of complaining. Besides the overall statistic, I wondered the "how many pictures could there really be" question.  Here are some answers from Pixsy.com - they looked at a getty Images data.    Donald Trump - 463,574 images Barack Obama - 336,823 images Queen Elizabeth II - 230,495 images Kate Middleton - 155,505 images Roger Federer - 149,576 images Prince William - 148,784 images Joe Biden - 143,412 images Hillary Clinton - 135,501 images Andy Murray - 132,295 images Prince Charles - 130,334 images Serena Williams - 125,257 images Elton John - 123,080 images Prince Harry - 119,379 images Jennifer Lopez - 107,997 images Paris Hilton - 101,438 images Jimmy Kimmel - 100,520 images Bill Murray - 92,194 images Rihanna - 86,247 images Jimmy Fallon - 82,464 images Camilla Parker-Bowles - 79,602 images Who would guess Donald Trump would show up as having the most photographs on Getty Images. Do a search for pictures of donald trump and click on the images view. The array is astonishingly awful.  His hair is prominently in all directions and then there's that orange makeup on his face. It seems uncanny how he seems to show up in so many places.

This is a close-up of a Gerbera flower - they always take wonderful pictures.    Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 23 2025 - That Turning Point Day

 

That 1963 turning point - the killing of Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.  The vast batch of documents released was poured over last week.  Can you imagine, as a JFK authority, getting access to more extensive information? And the turning point?  Three things stick out for me: The end of an era of optimism.  The cynicism towards government that gave rise to conspiracies, especially Kennedy's death.  And the switch to consuming   news via television..  So the release of these thousands of documents may or may not quell the conspiracy theorists.  There are so many things now that are "conspiracized" over.  (Yes, I just checked that there is this verb in the urban dictionary).   I wonder how many conspiracies were present in 1963?  Let's retrieve them: the "Paul is Dead" hoax. There's the landing on the Moon was staged.  There was a black helicopter theory that the United Nations would arrive in black helicopters to bring the US under UN control. Of course, UFO theories abounded - claims of government cover-ups and alien involvement.  And what are our prevalent conspiracy theories in 2025? What a question! This is a difficult area to research as it is now jam-packed with disinformation, misinformation, "spamouflage", deepfake videos, and more.  There's a new story every day that would fall into the decades-ago idea of a conspiracy theory.   It is a very busy area now - too many conspiracies to list.  Not like the "gold old days" when we could list 10 top conspiracy theories.

If we could vote for simpler times, I would be canvassing all over for that.  Here is a picture of Ranunculus - a spring pot plant for the porch. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

March 10 2025 - Fear for the Fearless Girl

 

Bing likes their top stories so much that they are repeated in pictures and headlines multiple times, even dozens.  The Fearless Girl story is one of these.  It goes with the removal of DEI initiatives in the U.S. The company that originally commissioned her - State Street Global - is under scrutiny for quietly distancing itself from its DEI programs.  The Fearless Girl is not at this location anymore - staring down the Wall Street Bull.  She was moved to the Stock Exchange.  Whether  she will be allowed to stay at its location is in question - it has a temporary permit.  Will State Street Global secure a 10-year permit?  That is the question, given the clear symbolism of the statue for women's equality.   There's a well-loved scene in  Monty Python's Holy Grail with a battle cry that American corporations are now using: "Run away, run away!" Scene 8:  Why No One Likes The French goes like this:  ARTHUR: Run away!  KNIGHTS: Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! Run away! That is the scene where the French Guard insults Arthur with: "Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!"   I am looking forward to the Witch Hazel blooming out front. It is one of the earliest bloomers and can unfurl its little yellow petals in February on a warm day.  This year, though,  it seems late.  In comparison, the snow is leaving early.   This picture is from a few years ago.

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