April 13 2021 - Foam Mattresses

How did mattresses get the name foam?  Sounds like the sea and ocean waves.  The original was foam rubber from rubber tree sap - natural latex.  The sap from the trees is frothed up and baked to create a foam. Like a cake, I guess. Looking up latex, I found an article on memory foam with this warning of "its piercing chemical odour, the off-gassing of toxic chemical compounds—and also its tendency to trap heat." And there's more: "It’s a chemical reaction with your body heat that causes memory foam to take its famous imprint of your shape. Without the chemicals, and without body heat buildup, there is no reaction. This is why many memory foam mattresses can feel too hard when it's cold and supportive enough when it's warm." Clearly this is a website for natural latex mattresses, as it continues: "Sleeping on memory foam, on the other hand, you can feel immobilized. It’s novel at first, but after a while, you may feel as though you’re stuck in damp sand. And every time you change positions, you have to heat up the foam all over again. This causes restlessness and circulation issues." That's a lot about something we take for granted now.  Gone are the days of straw beds.  Latex shows up in a few more places.  That's why there are lots of recipes and information about how make and bake foam latex.  It is used for moves in stop motion animation and costumes.  The Wizard of Oz is referenced in the Wikipedia article as the first movie to use it extensively.   There are many mattress jokes, but they aren't all that funny to me.  I sometimes wonder how "joke" gets applied to these strange little stories.  People somewhere must laugh.   Here are the two I find very good indeed and do hope you laugh: What's another word for a mattress? A loaf of bed. You've woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Shut up, he replied, and get this mattress off me. Two little model railroad vignettes. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 12 2021 - Exclusive!

 

Exclusive is something that took on marketing meaning in the 20th century. It can be traced back quite a ways -  so as to exclude cgoes back to the mid 15th century.  Unwilling to admit outsiders comes from 1822.   But the meaning of special - a news story from only one source or the 'exclusive deal' and 'exclusive rights'.  These are something we've become accustomed to in our time.   Almost 100 years later the word has a different meaning. What does it mean in the 2020s?  It means dating one person.  Here are a few examples of the headlines: Break free of the relationship purgatory of exclusive but not official relationship Exclusive dating isn't a relationship The benefits of being exclusive - mindspin studio Should I bring up being exclusive or just let it happen? Do you know about situationships?  These are ambiguous relationships with no label on them.  People who are essentially dating but don't say they're dating or refer to the other person as their boyfriend/girlfriend/partner.   During COVID marriage and divorce rates dropped. Stuart Wolpert reports in the newsroom.ucla.edu on a study published in October 2020 .  Here are some of the predictions and insights:  It is predicted that birth rates will drop post-pandemic.  People who are single are less likely to start new relationships.  There could be a backslide in gender equality with women providing child care and schooling at home.  And a general shift toward social conservatism. His article is HERE.   My own conclusion is that it may be that situationships are around for a long time to come.  I saw the first dandelion in a front lawn yesterday, and thought this image would be appropriate.   Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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Apr 10 2021 - Japanese Flower Story

 

How does an entire country be so in love with cherry blossoms?  From the end of March to early May, one can travel Japan to see the cherry blossoms.  Even earlier, if one includes Okinawa - that supposedly is February.  It is called 'hanami' which means flower viewing.  The custom started in the 700s so it has a grand and long tradition.   In Sakurayama Park alone there are 10,000 trees.   And there are over 50 varieties in Ueno Park alone.  There are about 600 species in Japan.   "The nectar of cherry blossoms is deep at the base of the petals. Only birds with long thin beaks can reach the nectar. Therefore, you're likely to see the Japanese white-eye and brown-eared bulbul nestled among the cherry blossoms. Birds like the Japanese tit and Eurasian tree sparrow have short, stout beaks so they need to tear at the petals to reach the nectar. When you see petals on the ground, it's likely the work of those two." I've seen Baltimore Orioles rip the petals from crab apple trees, and hadn't realized that would likely be the reason. There are many uses of Cherry blossoms in Japanese cuisine - ice cream, tea, cakes, crepes with sweet beam paste, This year the festival peaked at the earliest date since records began 1,200 years ago.  That was March 26th.  Can you imagine the great love of cherries, to have started the records so long ago.   Model train day today.  Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 9 2021 - Niagara's blossom Trail - Magnolias

 

Last week I wrote about the first orchard blossoms - Apricots.  Today we are covering Magnolias and that's because the Star Magnolias are opening up.  Magnolias typically bloom between the end of April and early May.  My garden in Toronto had both white and pink magnolia trees in the back garden overlooking the conservatory greenhouse.  They made for wonderful spring images. We have a great love of Magnolias, and they are located in many front gardens in towns, suburbs and in rural settings.  Royal Botanical Gardens' has several Magnolia dells - at the arboretum and the rock garden, and along the walking trails. The second image comes from RBG. Our stylized images are of the Magnolia in front of the former Vineland Research Centre on Niagara Street, St. Catharines.  Its distinction is that it is an old, mature tree. The weeping Cherry tree is located here, too.  This is a mini-arboretum.  The historical Yates Street boasts several very large Magnolias in front of heritage homes. Our last two images are in Queenston, taken last year at the end of April.  The Bright mansion, perched on the Niagara River, is a stunning backdrop to the lovely collection of trees on the grounds.  And don't forget Niagara Falls - there is a beautiful magnolia alley at the Niagara parks Floral Showhouse.   The oldest saucer Magnolia is considered to be 400 years old.  It is located in China.   If you would like to see the oldest trees - this is the website Monumental trees HERE.  They are located in Europe.   The saucer Magnolia is not native to Ontario.  Our Carolinian native Magnolia is the Tulip tree and the Cucumber tree. There are only eight native magnolia species inNorth America.  And the Cucumber tree is the only native to Canada.  If you would like to know more about the oldest native trees in Niagara - this is the link HERE.  Niagara Glen Nature Preserve is considered to have the champion-size tulip trees - up to 132 feet tall.  My favourite spot is Paradise Grove, easily accessible with walking trails, and fond memories of childhood picnics with family and friends.   A progression of images from the interpretive to the stylized, an heritage home on Yates Street and then two of  last Spring's Queenston homes and gardens. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 8 2021 - West Hawaii News - Vog Alerts

 

I wondered about the world news today and the first headline was West Hawaii News.  Hawaii is not a newsworthy place most of the time - its fame is its erupting volcanos.  Kilauea has been erupting continuously since 1983 and the last one was in December 2020.  So was the volcano erupting again?  It seems instead, there are emotional eruptions over how nervous people are to get their vaccinations.  Scolling further down to find their volcano news, the noteworthy item was the rapid rise of the lava lake.  Something like 10 feet an hour.  Here's the news from the official site. Activity Summary: Kīlauea Volcano is erupting. Lava activity is confined to Halemaʻumaʻu with lava erupting from a vent on the northwest side of the crater. This morning, April 7, the lava lake was 225 m (738 ft) deep and remains stagnant over its eastern half. SO2 emission rates remain elevated at 850 t/day, last measured on April 5. Activity over the past 10 hours has been characterized by three fissure vents on the north and northwest walls of the crater, the observatory said. Fountaining lava at these vents is estimated to be up to 82 feet high. The vents are feeding lava flows into the base of Halemaumau crater, which is being filled with a growing lava lake. This is a volcano under constant monitoring. The last update is yesterday at 6:30pm with the colour code Orange for aviation and volcano alert level of Watch.  What do they watch for? Sulfur dioxide emission rate, refill rates, lake observations of lava effusion. There are near-realtime webcam views of the lava lake here: https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/kilauea/webcams.  Go take a look at the vast amoeba on electrical-like fire.  In the hazard analysis is the monitoring of visible haze known as vog (volcanic smog).   The information above comes from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory,  one of five volcano observatories within the U.S. Geological Survey monitoring volcanoes and earthquakes in Hawaiʻi.  There's more information HERE.  Finding out all of this about volcanos gives vivid meaning to the expression "under the volcano." It seems to me that there are many volcanic sorts of images in the grunge and decay of our urban-built objects, particularly painted metal. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Apr 7 2021 - Skeptical about National Awareness?

 

It seems like a river of national awareness days - sometimes I look for fun, and then other times I am dismayed by the topics celebrated.  I wonder if there should be a National Skeptics Day.  Of course there is - it is October 13th - and it is International Skeptics Day.   Wikipedia lists many organizations as skeptical organizations. But then scientific skepticism is a positive thing - it questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence.  Most common is the examination of claims and theories that appear to be beyond mainstream science.     "What skeptical thinking boils down to is the means to construct, and to understand, a reasoned argument and, especially important, to recognize a fallacious or fraudulent argument. The question is not whether we like the conclusion that emerges out of a train of reasoning, but whether the conclusion follows from the premises or starting point and whether that premise is true." — Carl Sagan  Our International Skeptics Day seems to be something else.  "Research thus far has not revealed an inaugural year of recognizing International Skeptics Day, nor does skepticism itself follow a clear timeline that would be punctuated by specific events. But as a paradigm within which to operate, skepticism shows no loss of momentum, with periodicals like “The Skeptic” and “The Skeptical Inquirer” still in print, along with podcasts, TV documentaries, and and meet-up groups all over the world. The Doubting Thomas who is reading these words should have no trouble finding like-minded people, whatever his or her current location.meet-up groups all over the world.    The Skeptics jokes are very strange... A man walks into a bar and says to the bartender: “I bet you fifty dollars that I can bite my right eye.” The bartender says: “Yeah, right! I’ve never seen anyone do that!” So the man takes out his glass eye and bites it. The angry bartender pays the man his fifty dollars and the man walks away. He comes back half an hour later and says: “I bet you fifty dollars I can bite my left eye.” Now the bartender becomes really skeptical. She says: “I just saw you walk in here, you can’t be blind!” So, to the bartenders dismay, he takes out his fake teeth and bites his left eye. I take photos of Cannas every chance I get.  These were at Sunshine Express last week. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca