May 6 2023 - Crowing Glory

 

Look at all that gold and creamy white in the ceremony that's on right now.  Gold on everyone.  What is the King wearing? “Supertunica,” a full-length gold coat. And that Crown!  And there's Camilla in the creamy white and gold too.  Everything looks so pristine and wonderful.  And then so glittery with all those jewels. The golden carpet and the red accents in the choir outfits.  Is this a "crowning glory" moment?  No - I find out that was a Biblical reference:  perhaps originally with an echo of 1 Corinthians 11:15, 'if a woman have long hair, it is a glory unto her. ' The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. "crowning glory ."   And the other meaning is - the most interesting or important thing someone has to offer.  How much does that crown weigh?   “Heavy is the head that wears the crown”  ― Wiiliam Shakespeare Likely in the 2 and a half pound range.   I don't think I've ever put anything on my head of this weight to find out the experience.  I bet it is a balancing act that needs practising. And the rest of the day? The play by play says: After Charles is officially crowned, the procession will depart the abbey and return to Buckingham Palace where there will be a salute from the guard and a balcony appearance with the King and his family at approximately 9:15 a.m. ET. Maybe our Maple Leaves are a good image for the celebration day. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 3 2020 - Organized Crime

 

How did 'organized crime' get its name?  This has a sense of being MBA-talk of the 20th century.  Is it?  This sense of groups of criminals - such as pirates - has been with us a long time.  "Barbarian conquerors, whether Vandals, Goths, the Norse, Turks or Mongols are not normally thought of as organized crime groups, yet they share many features associated with thriving criminal organizations. They were for the most part non-ideological, predominantly ethnically based, used violence and intimidation, and adhered to their own codes of law." So what I think distinguishes this expression is the sense of organization structure and functioning. The website ResearchGate has the answer from Klaus von Lampers in his paper:  Not a Process of Enlightenment: The Conceptual History of Organized Crime in Germany and the United States of America von Lampers says that the content and meaning of the term "organized crime" has undergone various changes since it was first coined in Chicago in 1919 and entered the criminal policy debate in Germany in the 1960s. He relays the historical origins of the expression. "The term organized crime first came into regular use among the members of the Chicago Crime Commission, a civic organization that was created in 1919 by businessmen, bankers and lawyers to promote changes in the criminal justice system in order to better cope with the crime problem. In the pronouncements of the Chicago Crime Commission, organized crime referred not to criminal organizations but in a much broader sense to the orderly fashion in which the so-called criminal class of an estimated 10,000 professional criminals in Chicago allegedly could pursue crime as a business. The discussion centred on the conditions that seemingly allowed criminals to gain a steady income from crime, in particular property crimes, under virtual immunity from the law.  In the eyes of the Crime Commission, the city authorities were to blame for incompetency, inefficiency and corruption, while the public was criticized for its indifference and even open sympathy towards criminals. This characterization of organized crime as an integral part of society apparently reflected the perception of Chicago by the old established Protestant middle class as a city that, after years of rapid growth and cultural change, seemed to be drowning in crime, corruption and moral decay." Here's his summary of the evolution of this term in the U.S. history:  "In essence, over the last 80 years the American perception of organized crime has evolved from an integral facet of big city life to an assortment of global criminal players who challenge even the most powerful countries. In other words, the original systemic view of the relation between organized crime and society has been replaced by a dichotomic view that in recent years has been carried to extremes with the concept of global mafias." And how do we conclude? With an organized crime joke! Barry's job was to write articles for a massive online news site run by the mafia.  He absolutely hated his job, but he had to stay because they would kill his family if he left. He had to write articles about the mafia’s crimes, and because the company had all the lawmakers bribed, they were untouchable even though they openly admitted to their crimes. The editor-in-chief walked over to his desk one day, and leaned on the side of his cubicle. He said, “Barry, we’ve got the senator’s daughter held hostage. Thing is, we can’t do our usual schtick and demand money because we think the feds are onto us. Gimme something good for the headline and we’ll let you off early.” So Barry, knowing exactly what was at stake, wrote the standard ransom article asking for fifty million dollars, but this time he changed the title:  “Senator’s daughter to be released safely only upon reception of $50 million in precious metals’. Barry felt very proud of himself, and sure enough a week later the ransom had been paid and the company was rich. The editor-in-chief came back to his desk. “Great job, Barry! It worked! Why don’t you take the rest of the day off, after you change the title so the feds can’t hold it against us?” Barry agreed, and within five minutes the article title read: “Edit: Thanks for Gold!” I am thinking that Dilbert would appreciate this joke, wouldn't he? Here's something from the garden  after the snow.

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May 14 2020 - The Name of a Sound

The air flow from the furnace was making interesting noises this morning - perhaps it was as it was travelling through the ducts.  I went to the practical to find out what the sound might be and what might cause it - I checked out an HVAC site. "If your furnace is whistling, one possible cause is that there may be gaps in the duct. You should try to hear exactly where the whistle is coming from. Often, it will be from a small hole near the connecting point between the duct and the furnace close to the blower. Especially if the whistling has started recently, you may have a clogged filter, causing the fan to suck air from anywhere it can. Even tiny holes or spaces will generate a whistle if any significant air is being sucked through them. To test out this possibility, pull the filter out and see if the whistling stops. If your filter is so caked with dirt that it is clogged and stopping the air flow, you will be better off taking the filter out (while arranging to purchase a new one). This is better not just to reduce the noise, but also to reduce the wear and tear on your fan motor. Another possible cause for whistling would be that the ducts are too small. The furnace may need greater air flow, and thus larger ducts."   But would I call the sound whistling?  I don't think so. Another site on air conditioning said:  "If unusual noises are coming from the air registers (the vents where the conditioned air is blown into a room), ductwork should be inspected. Loose or ill-fitting ducts, as well as debris in the ductwork, may reverberate or echo sounds through the registers into living spaces." I happened upon a website that creates sounds with a noise generator. They say that "the sound of wind is considered one of the most relaxing sounds in existence.  This sound alone eases away stress and makes everything outside look more calm and quiet. The sound of wind is great for helping one to fall asleep and for covering background noises. Wind noise is a natural source of white noise. " I heard their howling wind - and it isn't relaxing.  Perhaps I should have tried desert wind, meadow land or palm garden. You can listen to the wind at https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/windNoiseGenerator.php. There are these types: wheat fields, autumn wind, stormy weather, home alone, deserted barn, trade winds and surprise!  At the home page there's Irish Coast, Rain on a tent, Japanese garden, 88 keys, twin black lodges, gregorian chant, waterfall and cafe restaurant.  That last one is likely what we would be interested in right now. After that my research found physics and wave properties.  I am still wondering what the names are for different sounds. Today's leaves are from the Versicolour Japanese Maple in the back garden.

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MMMaple!

This is a big occasion - having a birthday this big is going to be fun.  The Stanley Cup will be on display in Rideau Hall in Ottawa today from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Stanley Cup Champions Mike Bossy, Paul Coffey, Dave Keon, Frank Mahovlich, Bernie Parent and Bryan Trottier will be on-site from 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m The public invitation: to take a picture of yourself with this oldest trophy, famous hockey players and the portrait of Lord Stanley in the background. Closer to home it is time to 'tap into spring' as the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival is on all over Ontario, Quebec and the North-Eastern U.S.  This is an emblematic crop  for us -  Agriculture Canada has developed a "flavour wheel" that details 91 unique flavours that can be present in maple syrup. These flavours are divided into 13 families: vanilla, empyreumatic (burnt), milky, fruity, floral, spicy, foreign deterioration or environment, maple, confectionery, plants forest-humus-cereals, herbaceous, or ligneous.  The questions that popped up for me were: Q Is maple syrup made in Europe? A Unusual -  sugar maples grow in north-east North America and production was developed by indigenous peoples.  North American Maple Syrup is exported to Europe for expatriate consumption. Q Why was it used by the abolitionists during the American Civil War instead of cane sugar and molasses? A Sugar and molasses were produced by slaves. Q Is the maple leaf on the Canadian flag a sugar maple? A Yes - that's the maple leaf we love so much. Q What about other types of maples -  can they produce maple syrup? A Yes - even the ubiquitous and weedy Manitoba maple, considered a scourge of urban gardens (despite being a native) can be tapped for syrup.  Like most maples it has half the syrup/sweetness of typical sugar maples. Even black walnut can be tapped. I've purchased birch syrup in the past.  There are 22 varieties of trees that can be tapped for syrup.  My Norway Maple out front is one of them.