Dec 10 2024 - Winingest One of Us All

 

The Fantasy of Trees finished on Sunday and the raffle draws were done on Monday.  As part of the team, there is lots of careful work - making sure all the tickets are out of the holder, stirring them up, a second person picking one ticket, the auditor watches to ensure no looking at numbers. The auditor receives the ticket, then gives the ticket to the caller - my role - who calls out the number, then the look-up person who makes a match in the lottery record book, the win recorder, the runner who takes the information to the telephone callers, who make the call - You've won! It's a lot, isn't it?  I didn't win anything.  I had lots of help putting tickets into trees and items- by various children of people I know who promised to take away the toys or chocolate decorations.   Such excellent odds of winning something, too.  So it got me thinking about Frank Selak, who we've read about before - he's listed as the luckiest man in the world.  Actually he is known as the luckiest and unluckiest together.  "Frano Selak, a Croatian man, miraculously cheated death seven times before eventually winning the lottery. Frane Selak, of Croatia, has a reputation as the world's luckiest man. Frane Selak, an elderly Croatian man, is known around the world for being the luckiest man alive." HERE's the full Wikipedia entry.   Note that none of his depictions of life and death events are verified. But he did win the lottery at 73, so that with his strange saga of death events has elevated him to the luckiest/unluckiest person in the world.  But really, we just looking at raffles and lotteries.  But the stories here are about people who hacked the system, beat the system or one that big powerball lottery in California - the one that is over $1 billion. "The largest gathering of lottery millionaires is 110 and was achieved by The National Lottery (UK), in London, UK, on 7 October 2015."   My guess is that Frank stays in the retrievals because of the novel story of life and death and lottery win.  Tracking multiple winners would likely make the gambling and lottery world jittery.  Gambling is considered a problem behaviour in humans.  Cheating and hacking the system seems to come with it and would be something we simple lottery players don't want to find out. The Fantasy of Trees takes place at the Grimsby Museum each year. This is the Museum entrance with Santa - taken a few years ago.

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Apr 15 2022 - Lucky to be Blessed or Blessed to Lucky

 

It is Easter weekend, and soft pink clouds are floating in pale blue skies.  That's a Niagara Easter weekend.  It seems perfect for the colours that we associated with Easter - the pale pinks, yellows, greens and blues.   Our "luckiest person in the world" yesterday - he was visited by unusual events that happened by chance.  We know he was lucky/unlucky.  But many times we see blessings quotes that seem to be about luck or good fortune.  What is the difference - could I replace blessed with lucky? “Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.” – Camille Pissarro “Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” – Charles Dickens We see "blessings" quotes all the time.  They are in the range of "count your blessings" and they seem to point to happy and fortunate, and then sometimes even to spiritual prosperity.  But mostly they are gushy and sentimental.   So what is at the root of "blessings"?  What came to mind for me is the Beatitudes - Matthew 5:3-12.  When I was young, I recited Matthew 5:3-12 in a public speaking contest.  I won the contest and then used the winnings for piano lessons, a bit ironic.  The beauty of the poetry stayed with me. Matthew 5:3-12 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn,     for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek,     for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,     for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful,     for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,     for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,     for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,     for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. It seems I picked the right Bibical text. As I look at the Wikipedia analysis entry for the Beatitudes, I find it fascinating.  I had no idea of its significance in the New Testament Christian faith - presenting  "a new set of ideals that focus on love and humility rather than force and extraction. "  On spirituality and compassion. So there's my version of a Good Friday sermon.  More of a reflection.   And my lesson? Leave blessed to the realm of spirituality and faith however it has evolved to current day usage.  And take luck where you get it - particularly in the realm of mathematics.

Today's image comes from the Niagara Falls Greenhouse  - ten years ago.  I went to the greenhouse last week and it was closed, so can't tell you if there is a beautiful Easter display.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Apr 14 2022 - Lucky so and so

 

The luckiest person in the world is commonly reported to be Frane Selak (1929 - 2016) from Croatia.  Not all of his seven survivals from brushes with death are verifiable.  A train, a car and a plane crash.  In the plane crash he was blown out of a malfunctioning plane door and landed in a stack of hay. What about when he was trying to teach his youngest son how to hold a gun.  He shot himself - in the testicles.  They didn't survive, but he did. He did have a lucky lottery moment - the moment that I am interested in: "In 2003, two days after his 73rd birthday, Frane Selak won a staggering $1.1 million in the Croatian National Lottery! While he bought two houses and a boat with it, Frane also used the money to buy a small chapel to thank the Lord for all of his fortune. After $1.1 million and the 7 near-death experiences, he better be thankful." All that survival from horrible events seems miraculous to me rather than lucky.  My sense of luck is the lottery kind of luck. That seems to attract us the most.  Here's the lucky lottery winner: "Did you know that the chance of you winning a lottery is 1 in 200 million? In fact, you are more likely to die getting struck by an asteroid than win a lottery. How would you explain Joan R. Ginther’s situation then? She won a lottery not once, but an unimaginable 4 times! Her life changed when she first won a cool $5.4 million, only to win $2 million more 10 years later. It doesn’t end there. 2 years later she won $3 million, and a staggering $10 million in 2008! " And a joke on the topic.  The lucky number 5 I was walking down the street a few days ago I happened upon my good friend Tim. I waved him over and told him I had the craziest dream the other night.  Tim listened as I told him that the dream consisted of just one thing. A huge, bright, number -5-. It was made of gold and shined like the sun. Tim's eyebrows went up with curiosity. I continued to tell him that the first thing I did that day was to look up the local horse racing track contenders.  Tim raised an eyebrow. I told him that the number 5 contender in the 5th race was named "The Fifth Element." Tim started grinning. Then I told him of what I did to make sure I get my luck working in my favor.  I ate 5 bowls of cereal for breakfast and drank 5 cups of orange juice  I went for a 5 mile jog to feel good.  I spent 5 minutes in the shower washing off.  I dressed in the 5th shirt I found.  I sat in my car for 5 minutes before beginning to drive, then I drove to the racetrack and parked in the 5th stall in the 5th row.  I entered through the 5th admissions gate and bought 5 programs.  I went to the 5th betting window and bet $555 on the 5th horse in the 5th race.  I went and sat in the 5th row of the bleachers making sure there were 5 people sitting on both sides of me.  I settled in and waited for the race to start.  "Well," said Tim. "Did your horse win??!?"  I frowned at Tim and said, "Stupid horse came in 5th."

_______________________________________________________________ Today's image is the Muscari flowers in motion blur. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 13 2022 - So Many Luckies

 

The world of Mathematics is very active. Here is something that we didn't learn about in school because they were new ideas at the time I went to school.  The term is lucky number, and was introduced in 1956. I found it asking myself this question: What if I would like more than just the lucky number seven.? From Wikipedia:  In number theory, a lucky number is a natural number in a set which is generated by a certain "sieve". This sieve is similar to the Sieve of Eratosthenes that generates the primes, but it eliminates numbers based on their position in the remaining set, instead of their value (or position in the initial set of natural numbers). Wikipedia shows us how it works with an animation.  I've captured a screen shot just at the end of the elimination game.  You can go to the Wikipedia entry HERE to see the animation and read the process.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a lucky number set each day and find their occurrences.  1, 3, 7, and 9 today.  Would this be a sort of game of synchronicity?  Synchronicity describes circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection.  There are more interesting named numbers - fortunate number (a person's name), abundant number, lucky numbers of Euler, Happy number, Harshad number are a few.

_______________________________________________________________ And what about today's picture?  I purchased a flat of Muscari, aka Grape Hyacinths on the weekend.  One of the flower stands on Fourth Avenue at Ninth Avenue sells them each year.  There is a field along Ninth on the south west side that is full of them blooming each year.  These are forced bulbs, so are ahead of the field.  Such a divine blue they are. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilync

That Lucky Number Seven

We're coming up to St. Patrick's Day and it reminds us that we have an orientation towards luck.  It seems tome that mathematicians moved the term 'lucky number' into number theory.  The wikipedia entry says that it is a 'natural number' in a set which is generated by a certain 'sieve'. While the article describes a methodology that is usually seemingly obscure to us lay people, the origin isn't obscure.  It is termed the Josephus problem.   "The problem is named after Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian living in the 1st century. According to Josephus' account of the siege of Yodfat, he and his 40 soldiers were trapped in a cave by Roman soldiers. They chose suicide over capture, and settled on a serial method of committing suicide by drawing lots. Josephus states that by luck or possibly by the hand of God, he and another man remained until the end and surrendered to the Romans rather than killing themselves." I found this an astounding story.  The wikipedia entry goes on to say that the details of the mechanism remained vague. Various mathematicians have suggested various methods - e.g. arranging the men in a circle and counting by threes to determine the order of elimination.   You can find the solution HERE. The answer is that the problem is solved when every second person is killed - but there is quite a few calculations to get to that. So a lucky number turns out to be Josephus and his companion's 'positions' in the circle.   Well, back to the social unconscious of us humans.  Here are some of the inputs to what make us humans consider some numbers to be lucky numbers: 7 - seven days of the week, 7 colours in the rainbow, 7 seas, 7 continents 3 - on the count of three, third time's the charm, three's a crowd, three strikes and you're out... 4 - four seasons, 4 elements, 4 points on the compass, four-leafed clover 8 - 8 planets, 8 notes in a musical octave See each number and its relevant luckiness summary HERE.  Today's a train day with a visit to the Sundance Layout.  Here's a picture with a person in the setting so you can get a sense of size.

She Sees We See

It seems interesting that luck is both good luck and bad luck.  Yesterday's luckiest man had both bad luck and in the last instalment of his story had good luck in winning the lottery.  I might bet he has more instalments of luck on the way. Amongst the luckiest people from yesterday's search is one person who is called a tetrachromat.  She's Concetta Antico and she sees 100 times more colours than the rest of us. Her story was included with the lucky people.  Here's the story. "The human eye is stacked with millions of cone-shaped cells that help us recognise colours. For the normal kind like us, there are three types of cones which allow vision for about one million distinctive colours. Birds, insects, fishes and reptiles have a fourth type of cone cell that extends their colour perception, making them see the UV range as well. Although evolution has mostly scrubbed that fourth cone from the mammalian lineage, there is evidence that a small group of humans may have a genetic variant that allows for tetrachromacy.  A tetrachromat will be able to see, roughly 100 times more colours than an average human being. Concetta Antico is a tetrachromat. “It’s shocking how little colour people see in their lives.” Says Antico. The fact that she’s the only one (one of the handful) in the entire world who sees the world a lot more vividly than the others, makes her a really lucky person. When she looks at a leaf, she sees much more than just green. “Around the edge I’ll see orange or red or purple in the shadow; you might see dark green, but I’ll see violet, turquoise, blue,” she said. “It’s like a mosaic of color.” Deciding to show how she sees the world, Concetta became a painter. She conjures masterpieces in one sitting. All her paintings are insanely colorful, and feature shades you wouldn't generally expect to see." Here's her website:  https://concettaantico.com Our images today showcase the wonderful colours and lines of Canna leaves.

Luckier than seven

"I'm a great believer in luck. I've found that the harder I work, the more I have of it."  Thomas Jefferson. Lucky Seven's summary on Google seems a bit skewed:  "In the creation story, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. Scholars have found that the number seven often represents perfection or completeness in the Bible. In Judaism, there are seven heavens. ... Seven is also a prime number, which means it can only be divided by itself and one". So I searched on for more about the story of luck and lucky.  It is much more wide-spread than the creation story.  There are hundreds  of things considered lucky.  Here is just the start of the lucky story: Lucky Four-Leaf Clover Charms. Lucky Horseshoe Charms.   Lucky Dice (Fuzzy or Otherwise) Charms.  Ladybugs as Good Luck Charms.  Lucky Number Seven Charms.  Lucky Number Eight Charms.  Lucky Rabbit Foot Charms. There are many more good luck charms than these, according to exemplore.com.  Here is an article on 50 good luck charms from around the world.  There seems to be a lot of good luck to be found:   Animals Plants Objects Gems Turtles (protection from black magic) Four-leafed clover Horseshoe (open end up, for protection) Cat's eye Cricket (to alert when danger is near) Acorn (protect from lightning) Coins (in a new jacket pocket) Sapphires Dolphins (for protection) Bamboo An axe (for success) Amber Pig (for wealth)   Wheels   Red bat (for long life)   Ladders (but not when leaning against a wall)     What Do Lucky Shapes and Objects Mean? Ankh eternal life Heart love and wisdom Axe success Horn strength, power, abundance Circle good fortune Key access to love and the gods Crescent lucky for young children and mothers Ladder access to heaven Cross Tree of Life Triangle cycle of life Hand good luck Wheel Buddhist cause and effect If we keep track of all that is lucky we also keep track of who is lucky.  Would you like to know about the top 10 luckiest people in the world?   This is number 10: When his car collided with a truck and he was crushed under the impact, everyone thought it was the end of the line for Australian Bill Morgan, even the doctors. Declared legally dead for more than 14 minutes, he was somehow revived and managed to survive after only 12 days in a coma, even after family removed life support. But his luck doesn’t end there. To celebrate his survival, he bought a “Scratch It” card and won a car worth AUS$17,000 (now worth about AUS$25,000). When the local news station heard about him and all his good fortune, they were so impressed, they did a segment about him on the show. They asked him to reenact the scene by scratching off another card, only for him to win a whopping further $250,000 again during the live show.” Number 1 is Frank Selak of Croatia. He has eluded death 7 times and won a million dollars in a lottery.  The lucky 10 stories are HERE.  Dezi is peaking out from below a hemlock today.

Lucky Dendrites

Lucky 7 has a lot of Wikipedia references.  It has its own disambiguation page.  The DailyMail tells us that lucky 7 really is the world's magic number.   Seven is the most significant number across religions and cultures It also appears in some of the world's favourite fictional works Poll of 30,000 people reveals 7 is overwhelmingly our favourite number  "Our fascination with certain numbers goes back to the dawn of recorded history. For the Ancient Babylonians the most meaningful number was 60. They based their mathematics and calendar around it — and we, many centuries later, have inherited their system. That’s why an hour has 60 minutes, and a minute 60 seconds. In Ancient Egypt, 12 was considered special. In Egyptian mythology there were 12 realms of the dead. Indeed, 12 crops up throughout history — inches to a foot, pennies to a shilling, months of the year, the number of apostles. A day is split into two cycles of 12 hours. "  Read more of this article. However, it doesn't really explain the passion for 7. Psychology Today's article is titled:  Seven Reasons We like 7.  "The first two reasons for our love affair with 7 are linked to the mystical, spiritual, and superstitious: 1. 7 is magical. The religious and spiritual associations to the number 7 go back through the millennia, ranging from the 7 deadly sins to seventh heaven. The ancient world was declared to have 7 wonders in it although there were obviously countless others that deserved this designation. 2. 7 is lucky. The prototypical lucky number, 7 is a heavy hitter in the gambling world. Slot machines often offer three 7's as the big payout. Our brain feeds off positive associations, and "Lucky 7" gives us an automatic preference for the number itself. The next three reasons relate to 7's quality as a number: 3. 7 is a good playoff number. You will never have a tie when there are seven events needed for a deciding outcome. When 5 doesn't seem like enough and 9 like too much, 7 is the perfect halfway point. 4. 7 occurs throughout nature. There are 7 seas, 7 continents, 7 colors in the rainbow, and 7 days of the week. The number 7 has interesting properties, including the fact that it's the total of all opposite sides of a single die. 5. 7 sounds good. As NPR commentator Frank Deford pointed out, 7 is the only single digit number that has two syllables. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" rolls off the tongue. "Snow White and the Eight Dwarfs" just doesn't work quite so well. The final 2 reasons involve our brains and the way we process information. We may literally be programmed to like the number 7 because our brain is hard-wired to clump things in 7's. 6. 7 is the size of a memory chunk. The psychologist George Miller observed many years ago that our short-term memory remembers in units of 7 plus or minus 2.  You can remember an infinite list of words, tasks, or facts if you organize it into 5 to 9 (but ideally 7) chunks. 7. 7 is a neuron's favorite number. For years, scientists were mystified about the reasons for Miller's "magical number 7 (plus or minus 2)." Now we may know why. A 2008 study on neurons in the memory input unit of the brain, the hippocampus, showed that they produced the best information when their dendrites (the branches that receive stimulation) numbered 7. Perhaps we remember best in 7's because that's what our brains are best able to store."