May 14 2023 - Eurovision

 

Eurovision is in progress and finishes today.  It seems similar  to the Olympics with complicated processes for awarding host countries- all kinds of bidding and winning.  It says it is based on having the capacity, capability and experience to host an event this scale and complexity. Ukraine was to be the 2023 host but it is in Liverpool. Here's some info from Wikipedia:  "In addition to the main venue, the host city is also organising side events in tandem with the contest. The Eurovision Village is the official Eurovision Song Contest fan and sponsors area during the event weeks. At the Village, it is possible to watch performances by contest participants and local artists, as well as the three live shows broadcast from the main venue." The contestant for France is La Zarra from Quebec.  Celine Dionne won for Switzerland  in 1988.  ABBA won in 1974 for Sweden. I have to include the picture off ABBA - what a blast from the past! They sang "Waterloo". Graham Norton has been a Eurovision host for a while.  Here are some of his best jokes:  Norton once commented on a strobe-filled metal performance, saying: “If you’re watching with pets or sensitive older people, maybe now’s the time to put them in the utility room.” On the opening of Eurovision in 2018, Norton said: “Now it’s time for the flag ceremony. It’s a new tradition. It’s a way of making the show just that little bit longer.” Talking about Norway’s entry in 2015, the Irish TV host said: “He said he did something terrible as a boy. We don’t know what it was. It might have been write this song.” When telling BBC viewers about Italy’s 2017 performance, Norton said: “If you’re going to get someone to dress as a gorilla, at least get a decent outfit. That looks like couple of old car seats sewn together.” A nice rural image today - who left the gate open? Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Sep 10 2022 - Official Portraits

 

The Obama official portraits were unveiled last week.  Little did I realize I would be looking at dozens of portraits of the Queen over the next few days.  This will be unrelenting for more than a week.  What Barak Obama said during the unveiling of his portrait was that he liked that McCurdy “paints people the way they are, for better or worse.”  “He captures every wrinkle on your face, every crease in your shirt. You’ll note that he refused to hide any of my gray hairs, refused my request to make my ears smaller. He also talked me out of wearing a tan suit, by the way,” Obama quipped. “His work is so precise that at first glance it looks like a photograph.” The official portrait of Trump is full of action and intrigue. Trump’s political action committee donated $650,000 to the Smithsonian Institution in July to help underwrite the portraits of the Trumps. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to say whether Biden would extend an invitation to Trump should his portrait be completed during the Biden administration. Let us hope this does not occur.  It seems to me that there's all manner of scenarios possible.  He could even declare himself king once he sees the portrait.  There is the likelihood of ill-will being present: "While there’s no hard-and-fast rule for when a White House portrait ought to be unveiled, ceremonies have often been hosted by a former president’s immediate successor. And when in office, President Donald Trump never held a ceremony for the Obama portraits." What a contrast. The U.S. horizons are clouded by Donald Trump's psychotic behaviours in the security realm.  Britain and the Commonwealth (that's us) are engaged in the ritual of the "monarch's ascension to the throne".  What a lot is packed into the declaration of the king by the "lords spiritual and temporal of this realm."    A Shakespearean play is upon us: "By the grace of god of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of his other realms and territory, King, head of the commonwealth, defender of the faith, to whom we do acknowledge all faith and obedience with humble affection, beseeching God by whom kings and queens do reign to bless his majesty with long and happy years to reign over us." God Save the King is next played.

Glorious autumn is here soon - you can see it through the entrance way.  This is the University of Toronto - where the stone walls and buildings are so grand and connect us to the beautiful architecture of Great Britain. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

It's "I Got You Babe" Day

Being Canadian, this is the morning we wake up to Sonny and Cher's 'I Got You Babe' coming from the clock radio next to the bed.  If anyone mentions Deja Vu, I start to sing the first bars of the song.  So here we are at Groundhog Day. The synopsis of the movie is wonderfully written at Wikipedia 'here'.  The most interesting section for me is on Time loop duration speculations.   Time loop duration speculations Estimates regarding how long Phil supposedly remains trapped in the loop, in real time, vary widely. During filming, Ramis, who was a Buddhist, observed that according to Buddhist doctrine, it takes 10,000 years for a soul to evolve to its next level. Therefore, he said, in a spiritual sense, the entire arc of Groundhog Day spans 10,000 years. In the DVD commentary, Ramis estimated a real-time duration of 10 years. Later, Ramis told a reporter, "I think the 10-year estimate is too short. It takes at least 10 years to get good at anything, and allotting for the down time and misguided years he spent, it had to be more like 30 or 40 years." In 2005, Rubin said, "Ultimately it became this weird political issue because if you asked the studio, 'How long was the repetition?', they'd say, 'Two weeks'. But the point of the movie to me was that you had to feel you were enduring something that was going on for a long time ... For me it had to be—I don't know. A hundred years. A lifetime." In 2014, the website WhatCulture combined various time duration assumptions and estimated that Phil spent a total of 12,395 days—just under 34 years—reliving Groundhog Day. Danny Rubin was author of the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Harold Ramis.  He wrote a book on writing the movie - How to Write Groundhog Day.  Here is the hilarious promo page:  Buy it today! What if tomorrow never comes? Screenwriters How and why did the original screenplay change? Philosophers  Was this comedy influenced by Nietzsche’s theory of eternal recurrence? Fans How long did the time loop last? New Screenwriters Seven acts?  It had seven acts? Psychologists Was the structure really based on Kübler-Ross’ stages of death and dying? Lovers Was it always a romantic comedy? Guys Which movie star with the initials A.MacD. sat on the screenwriter’s lap? Buddhists How much will this book cost? Danny Rubin seems to be truly thankful and happy for this experience.  I checked out his blog called Blogus Groundhogus.  The latest entry is February 2015, so I'll assume that is sufficiently recent to indicate things. Our Koi looks like it is entering a portal gate.  This was a reflection of a bridge at the Jacksonville Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens.  And of course, we continue the heart theme.