Marilyn's Photos - July 19 2026 - The Odyssey is with us

 

When did we read The Odyssey?  It is so long ago that I don't remember. And then maybe we didn't.  I don't think of this as part of  English Literature courses in University.  More likely it was part of Classical Studies.  It was somewhere in the curriculum.  It is considered a cornerstone of literature because of its narrative devices and the theme of the hero's journey with the longing to return home. The Homeric epics formed the basis of the education of everyone in ancient Mediterranean society from the seventh century BCE.  He is regarded as the most influential writer in history and comes in close to William Shakespeare as the greatest writer of all time.   This is much discussion on the current translation that fuels the movie.  It is by Emily Wilson.  Her translation is "literal" - she has removed the archaic, elevated and romanticized diction of past translations.  She has maintained the exact line count and strict ambic pentameter of the original Greek text.  These are radical departures from traditional scholarship.  It is extraordinary that this epic work has been with us for so long.  In the 3rd Century BCE the first Latin translation was done by Livius Andronicus.  In the 1st century AD Dio Chrysostom claimed that the peoples of Classical India had integrated translations into their own folklore.  It seems that has been the subject of translation and interpretation for as long as it has existed. And the interest grew as the centuries went by.   So doesn't it make sense that the cinematic splendour is IMAX 70 mm film would be exciting. And while this is considered one of literature's extraordinary feats, it also has an excess amount of plot activity to fulfill any action movie. It seems a great movie for our troubled times - each of us having a Ulysses sense of longing - I think for the "home" of planet Earth before climate change and population explosion started. This is a picture of the Sainte-Chapelle chapel in Paris - a visit more than 20 years ago.  I went searching for stained glass window pictures and of course, Sainte-Chapelle's are much revered.  The chapel is 778 years old. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 20 2026 - FIFA News

 

News media was weighing in yesterday on the highs and lows of the FIFA World Cup.  The "highlight" seems to be the display of corruption and controversy at so many levels.  FIFA is known for its blatant corruption in the past, so this is "more" and "better" corruption, at a level not seen before.  That doesn't stop a billion people from loving this sport and tuning in and watching the final game.  And many celebrities in the stands.  Our own Prime Minister Mark Carney was there.  Spain's Royal Family was there.  Of course there were sports legends and entertainment and music stars.  Most unusual stars were Elmo and the Cookie Monster.  So FIFA can put on a show on the field and in the stands. So much opportunity here: what are the World Cup jokes like? Mostly there are hundreds (it could be thousands) of World Cup jokes that are "Dad Jokes." That's superior to the unrepeatable jokes that somehow get repeated online.   Here are just a few: We hoped for a good clean World Cup Final.But instead we got a Messi one. After his team was eliminated from the World Cup,The Nigerian captain personally offered to refund all expenses that fans of his country paid for to travel to Brazil. According to sources close to the player, he just needs their bank details and pin numbers to complete the transactions. How much does it cost a small middle eastern country to host the World Cup? A Qatar of a trillion Here are the top flowers in the Ontario Regional Lily Show's Popular Choice contest July 11-12, 2026.  The public was invited to vote for their favourite lily.   Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 18 2026 - Mermaids are Among Us

 

Isn't that such a cute fence on one of the Grimsby Beach Painted Ladies?  This was from a few years ago and a watercolour treatment removed the background.  When I opened the Globe and Mail this morning, I saw an article on Mermaids.  Ho to become a licensed Mermaid.   You will master breath-holding, underwater movement with a monofin, and essential water safety.  You will have to hold your breath underwater, of course.  The mermaid swimming technique is distinctive.  Without those paddling feet, one moves with the hips.   And then what?  You can work professionally - at children's birthday parties or public aquariums.  I guess at children's parties would mean you would live in some very large city with many swimming pools.  If you are in the U.S. it would be Phoenix, Miami, Orlando, then Las Vegas and finally Los Angeles. Globally, it is Sydney, Australia.  But that doesn't come near China's exploding mermaid population. In comparison, China has a large population of certified mermaid instructors - over 1,000.  They have tens of thousands of people that are mermaid-certified.  They have the Guinness World Record for an underwater show featuring over 100 trained mermaids.   So that means there are at least hundreds of thousands of certified mermaids world-wide.  That seems like a lot of recreational hobbyists vs professionals.  Maybe it is owners of swimming pools who take mermaid training! There are mermaid conventions galore in the U.S.  We've missed them - MerMagic in Silver Spring, MD was April 10-12th, the California Mermaid Convention was May 15-17 in Sacramento, Vero Beach, Florida had the Mermaid Freedive in April. And you can visit a mermaid museum, too!  There must be a mermaid joke for every one of the mermaids in the Guinness Record underwater show.  Here are a few: Q: Where do mermaids see movies?     A: At the dive-in! Q: Where does a mermaid keep her money? A: In the riverbank! Q: Where did the fisherman and mermaid meet? A: On line! Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - JHuly 17 2026 - Word Salad

 

Before we called it word salad, what did we say it was? It was schizophasia, or a formal thought disorder.  In that context it is a symptom of severe mental health or neurological conditions such as schizophrenia, dementia, acute psychosis, or brain injuries.  This meaning has been with us since 1904. Word salad became a common name for the condition. In terms of recent meanings, it now has a social meaning and has been accepted into dictionaries as of 2017.  Now it means something closer to nonsense.  It refers to the logic or intelligence of a person's language rather than the person's mental state.  It is a confused or unintelligible mixture of random words and phrases that lack coherent meaning or logical structure.  The words together might be grammatically correct, but the sentence as a whole does not make sense.  This use started in the 1970s and 1980s, it has come to its zenith in the last few years in the Trump era. Today's papers covered the most recent version in the news: "Reflecting on how Karoline Leavitt said that what Trump reveals tonight "will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president,” Miles Taylor quipped that “yes, and if your ears watch closely, you'll be doubly stunned.” Here is a list from AI of the top speakers of word salad today: Donald Trump Kamala Harris Gavin Newsom Shunyamurti Kanye West  Marjorie Taylor Greene Andrew Tate Dean Phillips Jim Cramer Sarah Palin Is this an American phenomenon?  Perhaps.  Or perhaps we in Canada live next to the largest nation in the world, so are witness to this more than other nations. And that makes it more likely we will see more U.S. figures and their word salad quotes given how funny some of them are. This is a picture of the "egg salad" salad at Good Earth quite a few years ago.  We remind Andrew the chef of this frequently, hoping he will make it specially for us one day.  It seems to take on new meaning now. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Mairlyn's Photos - July 16 2026 - Double Yellow Alert

It doesn't seem as yellow today, compared to yesterday.  What a strange light - and when the sun shone through the smoke it was an orange ball in the sky.  It makes me think of Rod Serling episodes on Twilight Zone.  Somewhere between the smell of smoke and the yellow light, it is Rod Serling who comes to mind, and here are the two episodes that seem to fit: "The Midnight Sun" (Season 3, Episode 10) This iconic episode, written by Rod Serling, follows an artist named Norma and her landlady, Mrs. Bronson, trapped in a melting New York City. The Earth's orbit has been altered, and the planet is falling into the sun. The Atmosphere: The sun never sets, the heat is unbearable, water is scarce, and the sky is a blinding beacon of doom. The Twist: Norma eventually collapses from the heat, but wakes up in a snowstorm. It is revealed her heatstroke was just a fever dream, and the Earth is actually hurtling away from the sun into a permanent freeze.  "The Burning Man" (1985 Revival) In this episode from the revived 1980s series, a couple driving on a desert road experiences an oppressive and unnatural heat wave.  The Atmosphere: The sky fills with thick smoke and an unrelenting, blistering sun. The Twist: They pick up an eccentric older man who eventually vanishes, leaving behind a bizarre mystery and the chilling truth that he was a victim of a historical forest fire.  So I expect this is it.  I remember Norma waking up to the permanent deep freeze.     This seems to have the Rod Serling sort of ambience.  It is a Floyd Elzinga metal wall piece that has been "flexified" Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's photos - July 15 2026 - The Royals

 

We have a notion called upper class. I think it stays newsworthy because of Britain 's Royal Family.  Doesn't the Royal Family seem both small and large.  So much press and focus on William and his family.  They are at the top of the pyramid - the Monarch and immediate Family.  Then there are the Working Royals.  There are 10 members with official public engagements.  That includes Queen Camilla, Prince William and Princess Kate.  The Official Royal Household has 48 to 50 members - they include all blood royals, spouses and extended family members with royal titles.  The Line of Succession incudes more than 60 of the King's descendants and extended relatives.  And then the Extended Dynasty - the wider family who are all direct descendants of King George V - the great-great-grandfather of the current heirs - and that has 50 to 70 individuals.   And that's the Royal Family - then there are Dukes, Earls and Barons - the second tier of nobility.  What might be the total number of upper class members?  It says 700 to 1,000 titled families.  But this seems a low number for something so dominant.  There likely are more than that and sufficient number for those not in the upper class to notice things.   But then it only takes a few members of Britain's Royal Household to be in the news every day.  So maybe it is only 1,000 people dominating our sense of privilege and priority.   We've got the Royal Botanical Gardens nearby.  This name was granted by Britain's King when the garden was established.  Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 14 2026 - There's Sugar and then there's Sugar

 

There's headline news that sugar has been detected in the galactic centre region of the Milky Way.  It is erythrulose that was found.  This is one of the chemical building blocks necessary for the origins of life and this means that it is widespread across the galaxy.  One possible conclusion is that it improves the odds that we are not alone.   Chemically there are thousands of types of sugars.  I am familiar with the sugars that make food sweet. Even there, there are many types of sugars.  I found  Robert Lusting 's book on sugar and he has a list of the 156 names for sugar - the list is HERE. Here are some I don't know about - Muscovado and Panocha.  The first is an unrefined moist cane sugar where the molasses is never separated from the sugar crystals.  Panocha is a traditional unrefined cane sugar block found in Mexican and Filipino cuisines.  Muscovado adds a rich chewiness to chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread, and brownies.  Panocha sweetens beverages like chocolate, makes savoury-sweet dishes, and melted with butter makes a spread.  The pictures of these sugars show cones and blocks.  I can remember wanting to do a photo series of ants (they were plastic) on sugar cones.  I went to all the specialty food stores looking to buy a sugar cone, but never found one.  I didn't realize I needed to go to a Mexican or Filipino store.   This is an October 2016 scene of Sugar Beach on Toronto's waterfront.  The Redpath Sugar Refinery there has a raw sugar shed that holds between 16,000 and 37,000 tonnes of unrefined raw cane sugar.  Can you imagine what it smells like near the Refinery?  I would expect it would be very sweet.  Here's what they say:  toasted cotton candy, caramel, burnt sugar, or molasses. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 13 2026 - Tick Tock

 

The CBC today says that guinea fowl sales have spiked in Nova Scotia because they keep the tick population in check. Ticks have increased dramatically in Canada as the temperatures rise.  We are watching the clock hoping that we'll get a vaccine soon as guinea fowls aren't going to work in my garden.   And considering the clock, it seems an interesting phrase - tick tock - that's the phrase for the sound of a mechanical clock ticking.  It once was described as tick-tack and as the pendulum grandfather clocks became popular the sound was described as tick-tock.  It reflects a deeper, slower resonance. There's another aspect of the phrase tick-tock that is  interesting.  There is the subconscious rule in English grammar called ablaut reduplication.  Reduplication is when a word is repeated to create a new phrase - bye-bye is the example.  When the vowel changes in the repeated word, the human mouth naturally prefers moving from the front of the mouth to the back.  So there we are with tick-tock, flip-flop, zigzag and hip-hop.  But why wasn't it described as tick-tick-tick? The reason goes that we like repeated pairs and naturally turn things into pairs.  The brain assigns a higher emphasis to the first beat and assigns a lower tone to the second beat even when a clock goes tick-tick-tick with no differentiation.  Here's a new phrase that will likely catch on:  Delulu - slang for holding unrealistic, delusional or overly optimistic expectations.  It is catchy, isn't it? Here's another human tendency.  Here's a silly smiley face in the plane tree bark pattern. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 12 2026 - Kate's Polka Dots

 

Pictures of Princess Kate always astonish me.  She is extraordinarily attractive with a gorgeous dimple and a wide and warm smile.  And then she's slim (so slim) which shows beautifully in pictures.  And finally she has the endearing quality of wearing polka dots.  And there's nothing more fun than polka dots.  It is reported that she has an affinity for polka dots and wears them at the Royal Ascot and Wimbledon which are two high-fashion events in England.  We can go to https://katemiddletonstyle.org/tag/polka-dot/ to see these many outfits.  They are part of the 20th century Royal fashion psyche. They loved polka dots. Here's a collage. It seems to me that after the Royals, the next most famous wearer of polka dots was Marilyn Monroe in that polka dot bathing suit.  It seems to be the American version of the Royal outfit.  The surprise, though, seems to be who is the second in line for polka dot royalty in America?  None other than George Clooney. What an amazing display this is. George Clooney's polka dot fame in 2013 was made possible by the great artist Yayoi Kusama. She devoted her entire career to exploring the emotional and philosophical dimensions of the dot.  Here's a quote about her polka dot work with George Clooney: ‘My idea is to send the message of ‘love forever’ to all the people in the world through the polka dots, which are all about the universe and human beings and living things. Your sex, being famous, being a star has nothing to do with it." Here's a summer polka dot design. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

Marilyn's Photos - July 11 2026 - A bridge too far

 

The date is now July 27th.  That's when the Gordie Howe International Bridge is set to open, according to a news release last night sent out by the Department of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.  That comes from the CBC.  From MSN comes the news that Donald Trump is quietly backing off an aggressive trade posture against Canada, which some were suspicious was an under-the-table handout to major GOP donors.  Then it goes on to say that the Canadian government announced the bridge opening date.  In comparison the Yahoo!Finance news says that Canada and Michigan have agreed to open the Gordie How International Bridge...with the support of the United States Government.  Should one be encouraged and have some optimism that the bridge will open?  I know nothing about betting sites, so off I went to find out what the odds are that the bridge will open on that date.  Perhaps you already know this: "The July 27th opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge is not available as a betting market on any regulated sportsbooks. Because both the Canadian government and U.S. officials officially announced this specific opening date, betting sites do not offer odds on this event as it is a settled certainty rather than an unpredictable contest." This is an historic moment:  Should you make the drive to Detroit and participate in the first day celebration? Is there the ability for Canadians to go halfway, turn around and come back, so we don't have to go through U.S. customs?  Well we could walk or bike across the bridge  It is 2.5 kilometers long. Would that be a bad sort of behaviour?  It says you will still have to go through Canadian customs just as if you had traveled all the way to Detroit.  It is designed specifically to cross the international border, so once you are on the bridge, you are in international zone requiring valid travel documents.  And you can walk the bridge for free. Sounds like a plan, though: walk onto the bridge for a bit, and then come back.  There's a FB post wanting to organize a Gordie Howe International bridge walk.  I guess when they opened the Ambassador bridge in 1929, there was a massive crowd walk. I guess it can happen again, so there'd be no easy getting back, would there? Today's picture is tree bark. This is a Sycamore or Plane Tree. Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.com

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