Feb 16 2025 - Let the Blizzard Begin

 

There's a tiny moment between 5:45 and 7:00 where there isn't a forecast.  Starting at 7:00am it is snow, snow, heavy snow. Well, actually, the forecast says "blizzard".  Look at the radar - so many colours of blue, then there's green and red. Red is for ice.   So it is blizzard until 1:00pm today when it becomes snow again.  It moves to light snow, then snow, then scattered flurries, then blowing snow. We're starting to move into Monday morning with a mix of sun and clouds - rise and shine it is 7:00am and your holiday weekend has been a long weekend forced to stay-at-home - a "Snoliday."   And what is a blizzard?  Three components are necessary - "high winds at least 40 km/h, visibility less than 400 meters and lasting for 4 hours.  That's the Canadian definition. And if we get a ground blizzard?   "Another type of winter storm is called a ground blizzard. This is when gusty winds—often 50 to 60 miles an hour—lift up snow that's already on the ground. Both types of blizzards can cause whiteouts, a condition in which so much snow is blowing so fast that it's hard to see anything." The worst blizzards in history were in Iran in 1872 and in Afghanistan in 2008.  Iran's was the deadliest blizzard in recorded history and dropped as much as 26 feet of snow, completely covering 200 villages. The Storm of the Century was in 1993 in the U.S. Toronto's great snow storm of 1999 is not covered in Wikipedia.  It is remembered for bringing out the military to clear the streets.

A watercolour abstract today. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 17 2024 -Lucky Green

 

We're at one of those celebrations that started with a religious event/person that doesn't seem to be related to any religious event anymore.St. Patrick's Day.  It has had more than 1000 years to evolve.  And then it got imported to the U.S. by Irish immigrants and it went viral as a celebration of Irish culture.   What is Irish culture? It says parades, special food, music, dancing, drinking and a whole lot of green. Food and green are part of this day: this is a green in every food dish day.  I like the green popcorn pictures.  But this is an American enjoyment.  Supposedly the Irish have a long historical memory and green food relates to the Irish Potato Famine of the 1840s when mass starvation occurred.  "People were so deprived of food that they resorted to eating grass," Kinealy tells The Salt. "In Irish folk memory, they talk about people's mouths being green as they died." Let's find something more more innocent and fun.  Wearing green. As the tradition goes, wearing green on St. Patrick's Day is supposed to make you invisible to leprechauns. They will pinch you as soon as you come upon their radar if you don't wear green! In the dark history of Ireland, Green represents the Catholics who rebelled against protestant England.  There was the green flag with a harp in the early 17th century.  There was a Society of United Irishmen who wore green in the 1790s trying to bring republican ideas to Ireland having been inspired by the American and French revolutions.  So wearing green has its dark history. And  the "lucky" part?  Supposedly the "luck of the Irish" was an expression about the  Irish having bad luck.  It was originally an ironic expression.  Dark abounds in Irish history.. And then our North American pot of Shamrocks is actually Oxalis.  Very cute, very green.

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Aug 21 2023 - A Billion Dollar Workplace

 

What company would you work for to go to a 1 billion dollar office each day?  You'd work for Novartis in Basel, Switzerland.  Or maybe Apple with its $5 (or perhaps 6) billion Cupertino campus, or its Austin campus at $1 billion.  Or Apple in North Carolina, and so on.   Uber, that company that won't pay its driver employees as employees will spend $1 billion for two San Francisco buildings.   Disney cancelled its $1 billion campus in Florida.  It was to serve 2,000 employees.  That doesn't seem like enough employees to spend that much money.  Is that $500,000 per employee?  What would you have wanted if you had the choice? I would have preferred the money.  But then I didn't work for a tech giant, thinking I was changing the world.  And don't forget, no one is asking them what they prefer. Are the employees who work in these opulent palaces the "Princes of Industry"?  Or perhaps Dukes and Earls? Something in the royalty range, at least. It must be.  There must be a pull towards prestige.  Do they make significantly more wages than other people so that they don't have anger over the disparity between their home circumstances and their work environment?  Would that be the big draw - to get people to stay at work because it is a beautiful physical environment, great restaurants and food. Who wants to go home? Do employees value these surroundings as a key benefit?  This article doesn't mention the workplace environment in the top 10 Apple benefits.  They value health and wellness benefits, vacation and time off (the article says between 15 to 20 days per year - Ha ha!), parental leave, commuting, gym credit, stock purchase program, tuition and self improvement, retirement.   That outlier, Uber, has articles on how much its employees hate the corporate culture.  That palace is for the King's Court to revel in rather than for those dukes and earls below- that's the likely story there. And definitely Uber has the medieval sense of peasants out slogging in the fields.  These are some of my questions on the current state of capitalism.  Do we live with a capitalist system that's not much changed since it started?  Is there an uplift in circumstances of enough of the first world's population - to keep us complicit and celebrating capitalism.  Is that the scenario?   The headlines say that sort of thing:  "The magnificent progress achieved by capitalism". Today's image is another in the Leaves Series.

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Aug 20 2023 - Summer Songs

 

There are definitely songs that make us think of summer.  And the second half of the 20th century brought us a lot of them.  There are a quite a few lists that tell us the favourites.  I picked out these: (Sittin’ on the) Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding Under the Boardwalk by the Drifters Summer in the City  by the Lovin’ Spoonful  Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong California Girls by the The Beach Boys The Summer Wind by Wayne Newton  There are more, lots more.  Every genre has them. There are classical music summertime songs. They all seem to have "summer" in the name, like Vivaldi's Summer. Summer is the great season.  It deserves all this musical attention. It makes me realize that with the rise of radio, popular and jazz music has come to define a society's experience of summer, not just a person's.  That "collective unconscious" has been growing.  Do we know what that signifies?  Not me.  It seems a mystery. Today we have some summer leaves.

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Aug 3 2023 - Index Fingers

 

What is it about the index finger?  Why do I use it for so much?  Pointing, pressing, pinching, so many activities it is involved in. It is known as forefinger, first finger, second finger, pointer finger, trigger finger and so on.  We use it so much because it is the most dextrous and sensitive finger of the hand.  Index finger means pointing finger, so that's a lot of activity - identifying an item, person, place or object.  Babies begin pointing to communicate, so it is instinctive.  I wondered about that.  And it is considered to be one basis for the development of human language.   Of course there is that famous The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, 1512 that cemented the Index Finger into history. Index Finger jokes don't seem to be very entertaining.  Here's the example: Jimmy goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, wherever I touch, it hurts." The doctor asks, "What do you mean?"   Jimmy says, "When I touch my shoulder, it really hurts. When I touch my knee it hurts! When I touch my forehead, it really, really hurts." Jimmy was diagnosed with a broken index finger later that day. And that's the best one... And then I found this picture and it seems a wonderful moment for the Index Finger.  What do you think?   Here we are with a bit of dew on blades of grass.

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Mar 17 2023 - St. Patrick's

 

Is there a true meaning to St. Patrick's Day?  Is there real history behind this date?  Often that sort of question makes me ponder what would be the false meaning. But there are no contentious beginnings with St. Patrick's Day.  And this is celebrated in more countries than any other festival. It starts as the celebration of the arrival of christianity in Ireland.  Back in St. Patrick's time, the Irish were "pagans" and the three leaves of the shamrock were used to explain the Holy Trinity.  Probably these were the same Celtic pagans who brought us the Leprechaun - small-bodied fellow to entertain us with possible pots of gold. No celebration can reap mass commercialization without its own colour and the Irish green is spectacular.  We have taken to it completely. There are even pictures of the international space station version of the festival with Chris Hatfield wearing green.    Just like Christmas having Poinsettias, St. Patrick's Day has its flower - Shamrocks - Oxalis - with those green leaves.   Getting ready for today, we tried to buy some at the Watering Can yesterday, but they'd sold out.  And I found out that there was a crop failure at the Hellebore grower so they won't have  Hellebores this year.  Now that one really worried me.

This is the highlight display at the Hamilton Gage Park spring show this week.

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Feb 12 2023 - Super Bowl

 

What is the difference between dangerous sports and violent sports?  Is ice hockey more violent than football? Dangerous sports seem to me to entail deadliest.  Deadliest is countable.   When I look at this chart comparing danger, what should I think?  I laugh because it is hilarious to have fishing on the chart.  A non-contact, mostly non-competitive sport? Fishing injuries seem to be to be self-inflicted from poor use of a knife or simple falling.    The explanation for basketball on the top of the list is because of the many paediatric injuries, particularly the ankle.  But wouldn't football be more dangerous and violent given it ranks high on concussions?  Cycling is up there due to falls and collisions.  I wonder what the comparison of a fishing fall is to a cycling fall?  Again, a laughter reaction to fishing.  I wonder about this as today is the most popular and most-watched show on American screens.  Football.  The Super Bowl.   Guess what seems to be the Number 1 topic?  Surprise me - it is Betting.  The Half-time show - Rhiana.  It is expected to take longer than the minutes of play - likely 14 minutes compared to average of 11 minutes of play. The show's elapsed time is 4 hours.  How long is the national anthem at the Super Bowl?  Will it be short - at a minute and 34 seconds, or long as in two minutes and 35 seconds?  I find it an unmusical melody so am not a fan of having to listen to a long version.   And other things to know about the Super Bowl: 1. second-highest food consumption day 2. advertisements very expensive - this year's top advertiser is a Christianity group with Jesus Gets us at $20 million  3. high numbers watching - often the most watched show of the year 4. why those Roman numerals? they think it is less confusing (!) So many things to consider on this monumental sports day. We're coming up to Valentine's Day - here's a flowering heart.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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Jan 18 2023 - Pink for boys..no girls

 

I wondered how we got to pink for girls and blue for boys.  And what made us gender-rigid in this respect.  Here's a picture of Franklin Roosevelt in a white dress, party shoes and long hair.  This was the norm in 1884 - gender-neutral.   It was in the 19th century, though, that colours became gender signifiers.   This is different than what has been published as the U.S. history.  But then I think that is because the research in the 1980s by Paolettis and a book published in 2011 get referenced over and over, turning into an urban legend.  "The march toward gender-specific clothes was neither linear nor rapid. Pink and blue arrived, along with other pastels, as colours for babies in the mid-19th century." "For example, a June 1918 article from the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department said, “The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” Other sources said blue was flattering for blonds, pink for brunettes; or blue was for blue-eyed babies, pink for brown-eyed babies, according to Paoletti." Wikipedia has a long survey of countries showing that pink has been generally used for girls and blue for boys.  Then it chronicles pink for boys and blue for girls. The earliest references are pink for girls and blue for boys - starting in the early 1800s to 1941.   For the blue for girls and pink for boys, scroll to the end and see the US is where the reversal is revealed in the ads.

Another close-up in the Niagara Falls conservatory.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 31 2022 - Weird Snow Right Here

 

There's weird snow.  And some of it is right here.  These are things like snow rollers, frost flowers, pancake ice, rabbit ice, penitentes, needle ice, and brinicles.   There are Ontario pictures of ice volcanoes, snow towers,  snow balls , ice caves, crop circles, light pillars, ice pancakes, and so on in the Narcity article HERE.  The article on Treehugger.com describes how they are formed.   There's even better formations from recent storms.  Look at the pictures below.  These came from a lake-front cottage in Dunnville, on Lake Erie in January 2022.  These are formations around Jack's neighbours lamp posts.    For traditional ice formations, the Bored Panda article has beautiful photos of snow formations is HERE.   This next picture comes from that article. I haven't found where this one is located.  So far, the pictures are from Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, and Lake Michigan.   Our recent storm has resulted in Port Stanley making the news with winter sculptures on the pier.   That was only 3 days ago.  Those pictures are HERE on the CBC website.  And Crystal Beach, just a half hour drive away also made the CBC news with its lakefront homes encased in ice from the same storm.   That picture story is HERE.  These are the Crystal Beach lakefront houses.  They look like they've been painted with Benjamin Moore's Ice Formations 873. And our picture today shows graceful Japanese Forest Grass. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 2nd 2022 - Cottage Cooking

 

Acording to the CBC, cottage living is meant to be relaxed time so cooking is a problem.  Many people consider cooking unrelaxing and too much work.   So a cottage "getaway" involves all kinds of planning ahead for "crowd-pleasing prep-and-pack meals".   Got me on this when I read through the CBC version of what to take to a cottage.  Who in Ontario would make lobster rolls at a cottage?  That is one of the recipes.  I consider it an American tragedy that such a beautiful shell fish is subjected to hot dog rolls and too much mayonnaise.  But my guess is that the article had to include East Coast cottagers.  But I'm told they don't call them cottages there.   Maybe this is for us Ontarians, after all. I turned away from the CBC suggestions.  I decided  this is not cottage country eating .  We are looking for new twists on pancakes, kid-friendly sandwiches, hot dogs, and chocolate chip anything - especially in the morning as in muffins.  And then all kinds of food on the grill and bbq. Shouldn't there be French toast rather than granola bars? And one could start the day by  grilling them with nutella and marshmallows?  Now we're talking indulgent cottage eating.  Wouldn't there be potato chips as a side to every sandwich - who wants a  kale salad at the cottage? Pair that sandwich with marshmallow milkshakes.  This would be the kinds of lunch drink for those sandwiches.  Gooey grilled cheese would be a good lunch choice - the grill in at least two meals is ideal. There's no mention of butter tarts - this seems a cottage tragedy.  This should be a day trip visiting all of the bakeries and comparing the results along the way and when you get back to the cottage.  And enough for snacks the next day - toasted marshmallows on the top. That's because "Up North" eating involves ice cream and popsicles, so a rocky road pudding pop with marshmallows and chocolate is a match for indulging at the cottage.  And what kinds of pie do kids want?  Brownie pie - covered in toasted marshmallows. Not some rhubarb almond thing.  That's for big city eating by adults. It seems to me that marshmallows are an essential ingredient in post-dinner dessert eating.   For the adults, one would toast marshmallows,  hollow them out and fill the little shot cup with Kahlua.  For the kinds it might be a second helping of the brownie pie. My version of cottage cooking obviously involves childhood favourites. At least one meal has food grilled and bbq'd.  The day should end in popcorn followed by toasted marshmallows.   It is much simpler than the CBC makes it out to be.  Here's an abstract picture today - looking at the Food Basics sign (lowest prices always) with the rain on the car windshield.

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Mar 17 2022 - Irish Green

 

What colour is Irish green?  It is also called Irish flag green, and shamrock green.  I went hunting for the colour codes and find the hex colour codes for Irish Green just like science magic. Web colours came along with colour displays. Wikipedia says that in the mid-1990s displays were capable of 256 colours and that's when web-safe colours were determined and a standard was created.  Since then the standard has moved to 24-bit TrueColor - it  uses 8 bits each of Red, Green and Blue.  How many colour variations are there?  16,777,216 compared to ten million colours that the human eye can discriminate.   I remember the green cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays in the 1970s and when we got colour screens it was like a miracle.  Wouldn't it be amazing to put a current day screen side-by-side with one of the old ones and see the differences? I expect there will be many happy people everywhere celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  My thinking is that it will become known as the 'coming-out' of the Pandemic milestone.  Perhaps a rainbow and pot of gold is needed to make the coming-out permanent.

What kind of bow can’t be tied? A rainbow. Where can you always find gold? In the dictionary. What do you call a fake Irish stone? A sham-rock! Why are leprechauns so good at gardening? They have green thumbs! Here are our pictures today - look at the Irish Green shades above.  It seems there's not that much Irish going in in these images. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca