Feng Shui That

What about feng shui and house shapes?  What is a bagu map?  I find out it is the feng shui energy map of your space and that it is one of the Five Arts of Chinese Metaphysics.  It discusses architecture in terms of invisible forces that bind the universe, earth, and humanity together, known as qi.  It is an ancient tradition. What about contemporary uses of feng shui? I found a Forbes article titled "Feng Shui Your Money".  It isn't really about feng shui - it is a catchy title. How about this article:  "Should You Feng Shui Your Hair?" - this is also in Forbes.  It is about Feng Shui Beauty techniques. A person's energy is analyzed and hair, colour and make-up are customized to reflect it. And another Forbes article about a lady who sells plants based on feng shui.  She has sold over 1500 on the Facebook Marketplace. She imparts feng shui and plant-rearing wisdom to the purchasers. Forbes has many articles on Feng Shui.  Here are a few more titles:  Desk for Success Attract Clients Giving Your Car's Feng Shui a Tune-Up Feng Shui for your portfolio A Healthy office a healthy mind Of course, here's the headline that draws attention:  Meet Donal Trump's feng shui master - The article is HERE.  She did the work in 1995 on the Trump International Hotel and Tower.  The common element in all these articles is how someone gained celebrity or wealth through the application of feng shui to their professional area.  Most interesting. Our picture today was taken at the 13th Street Winery in St. Catharines.  It is on the garden tour this weekend.

May 17 - Dandelion Futures Up

We've heard a lot 'about trade with China'.  I realize I don't know anything other than the headlines.  In the China news was the death of I M Pei, the designer of the glass pyramid at the Louvre.  He was 102 years old.  The BBC article shows his most famous work HERE.  He was immensely prolific, and known for many works in the US and around the world. While he was a resident of the U.S., China celebrated his legacy there.  Some of his work, like the glass pyramid at the Louvre, had negative reactions initially.  That was the case of the Bank of China Tower - it is now described as the world's best bank building. Look at the field of gold in front of the expansive orchards of Cherry Lane on Victoria Street in Vineland.  It is one of the few streets that trucks can take to get over the escarpment.

May 16 - If you own a computer then play this game for 1 minute

Isn't that headline interesting?  Could you read the headline without being at a computer.   How does owning a computer change whether you should play "the game" or not? I wonder about how that logic motivates people to click the link. What would we do to improve our logic skills?  There are serious websites such as mentalup.com and they have three categories:  logical reasoning and planning, spatial perception and logical thinking, and logical and mathematical thinking skills.  They are targeted to children to engage in the 'games' to improve their skills.  Another site - the one that is the top item on the google list identified ten creative tips, and then shows six.   This six seem hilariously illogical - and perhaps an excellent example of how google's focus on revenues have interfered with retrieval results: Dance Your Heart Out. ...  Work out Your Brain with Logic Puzzles or Games. ...  Get a Good Night's Sleep. ...  Work out to Some Tunes. ...  Keep an “Idea Journal” with You. ...  Participate in Yoga. The list made me laugh, so I went on to find a logic joke: Jean-Paul Sartre is sitting at a French cafe, revising his draft of 'Being and Nothingness'. He says to the waitress, "I'd like a cup of coffee, please, with no cream." The waitress replies, "I'm sorry, monsieur, but we're out of cream. How about with no milk?" The joke is followed by a list of Oxymorons.  It seems that seeing them together makes them more funny. Act naturally Almost exactly Alone together Business ethics Clearly misunderstood Computer security Diet ice cream Exact estimate Found missing Genuine imitation Good grief New classic Two images of iconic Niagara - Peninsula Ridge Winery and orchard blossoms.

May 14 - A big amygdala

Today we continue to look into the rancid yet riveting world of disgustologists.  What are they studying? They are studying part of our body - our brain's amygdala.  The bigger it is, the more likely a person is to be conservative. The field has determined that there are 6 categories of disgust: poor hygiene  (snotty tissues, body odour, a dirty apartment bathroom) animals and pests (cockroaches, rats, infestations) sexual behaviour (prostitution, promiscuity) irregular or strange appearances (obesity, disfigured faces, amputated body parts, poverty, wheezy breathing) lesions or visible signs of infection  rotting or decaying food They are described in detail in this Popular Science article HERE.  The article summarize it in a nutshell:  'that feeling when someone you find sexually revolting offers you a stinky pizza". In the studies, one of the aspects that is observed is horripilation.  That word means the erection of hairs on the skin due to cold, fear, or excitement, "a horripilation of dread tingled down my spine" Is it all physiology and genes or is there socialization involved?  Michael de Barra, the research psychologist who defined these six categories says this:  Genes might decide what kills us and what doesn’t, but it’s through our interactions with the environment and with other people that we learn how to calibrate and adjust to our surroundings. So while the six categories might broadly encompass most disgusting things, there will still be intense variability depending on who you’re talking to and what they’re background might be. Here's a great quote to help us understand why this is so fascinating for scientists:  "Disgust is an organ – like an eye or an ear. It has a purpose, it's there for a reason," said self-described "disgustologist" Valerie Curtis. "Just like a leg gets you from A to B, disgust tells you which things you are safe to pick up and which things you shouldn't touch. And this book:  This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behaviour and Shape Society by Kathleen McAuliffe.  Based on a wildly popular Atlantic  article, this is an astonishing investigation into the world of microbes, and the myriad ways they control how other creatures — including humans — act, feel, and think.  "Our obsession with cleanliness and our experience of disgust are both evolutionary tools for avoiding infection, but they evolved differently for different populations. Political, social, and religious differences among societies may be caused, in part, by the different parasites that prey on us." So let's take an informal disgustology test?  What is the subject of this abstract picture? It is a close-up of a person's beard.  Here he is.  What is your reaction?

Got my PHD in Disgustology

CBC Radio presents such fascinating stories.  On Saturday, they related research that show liberal and conservative thinking and emotions are fundamentally different and are wired in the brain. They can predict from people's physical sensitivity to disgust whether they are liberal or conservative.  The differences are so pronounced that there are standard traits on each side.  This area of research and study is now termed disgustology. What the Scientific American article says:  "According to the experts who study political leanings, liberals and conservatives do not just see things differently. They are different—in their personalities and even their unconscious reactions to the world around them. For example, in a study published in January, a team led by psychologist Michael Dodd and political scientist John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln found that when viewing a collage of photographs, conservatives' eyes unconsciously lingered 15 percent longer on repellent images, such as car wrecks and excrement—suggesting that conservatives are more attuned than liberals to assessing potential threats." Conservatives are more fundamentally anxious than liberals. There is a high level of sensitivity for disgust among conservatives.  Studies show it extends into taste and smell, what people prefer to eat, how sensitive they are to bitter tastes, and more. Researchers now have theories of how disgust is associated with views on transgender rights, immigration, and similar topics. "At a deep, symbolic level, some speculate, disgust may be bound up with ideas about “them” versus “us,” about whom we instinctively trust and don’t trust. In short, this research may help illuminate one factor—among many—that underlies why those on the left and the right can so vehemently disagree." The tweet by right-wing Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro draws on the area of disgust.  He tweeted out a short clip of two 'perverts' gallivanting on a balcony at Rio's Carnival...He trolled the Left into defending an act that most people understandably find revolting (peeing on someone). So here's our train picture of the day demonstrating the disgust factor with a well-known expression that originated in Scotland.

Expressions We Know

There are expressions that never die out.  The top expression at eslbuzz.com is: 1. I'd better get on my horse.  This is an expression I've never heard anyone say.  So as number 1 in the list, the my 'take-away' is that this is a very old list. These are expressions from my childhood... 2. Break a leg!  Good luck! (Usually said to someone who is going to appear in front of an audience.) 3. Dig in!  You can start eating your meal. 4. Bite your tongue!  Keep quiet! 5. Butt out!  Go away and mind your own business! 6. By the skin of my teeth.  Only just. 7. Beats me. I don’t know. 8. Drop me a line.  Write me (a letter). What about current jargon?  I found a list that looks more current at babble.com by JOHN-ERIK JORDAN 21. What’s up? / Wassup? / ‘sup? Meaning: “Hello, how are you?” No matter what you learned in English lessons, do not greet a friend or acquaintance with, “How do you do?” What’s up? or the even more informal ‘sup? mean the same thing without making you sound like you should be doffing a top hat. In more formal situations, it’s better to say, “Nice to meet you” or “Nice to see you.” The beauty of What’s up? is that it is not really a question in need of an answer. Just like the French “ça va?” you can respond to “What’s up?” with… you guessed it: “What’s up?”! We know you’re thinking it, so here’s the beer commercial that made the phrase world famous. 20. Awesome! Meaning: great In the old days, awesome was a word reserved for the truly powerful, fear-inducing and sublime: the view from a mountaintop, the sea during a storm, the voice of God emanating from a burning bush. You know, massive, awe-inspiring things that “put the fear of God in ya.” But awesome has expanded in the American lexicon to include the less awe-inspiring, like a hit single, a hamburger, some new sneakers… if you’re even just mildly excited about something, it can be awesome: “I saw the new Star Wars in IMAX over the weekend.” “Awesome. Did you like it?” “Oh yeah, it was awesome. Hey, can I get a sip of your iced tea?” “Sure.” “Awesome, thanks.” 19. Like Like can be used as multiple parts of speech (comparing similar things, in similes, a synonym for “enjoy”), but it’s slang usage — introduced into youth culture by “valley girls” in the 1980s — is hard to pin down. “Oh my god, it was like the worst date I’ve ever been on. Richard was like such a jerk!” In this example, like could be mistaken for a preposition meaning “similar to,” but it’s actually not! When dropped into sentences in this manner, like is a discourse particle or discourse marker which denotes topic changes, reformulations, discourse planning, stressing, hedging, or back-channeling. In practical terms, “like” is the word that just falls into the gaps in speech when you might otherwise say “um” or “uhhh.” If you want to hear like in action, there is no better example than Shoshanna from the TV show Girls. She’s like the best! Important note: Peppering too many likes into conversation can make one sound childish and frivolous — fine for parties but probably not job interviews (but most Americans under the age of 35 say the word more often than they probably realize). 18. I hear you / I hear ya Meaning: I empathize with your point of view With only three words you can make it plain that you are really listening to someone and relate to what they are saying: “I’m kinda sad to be back from vacation. I wish I was still on that sandy tropical beach.” “I hear ya. After I got back from Acapulco, the view from my apartment depressed me for weeks.” “Tell me about it,” is the sarcastic alternative, as in “don’t tell me about it because I already know too well!” 17. Oh my God! This exclamation is not as pious as it sounds. In fact, conservative religious types would probably find it tasteless (not to mention that it breaks the fourth commandment!) and would likely substitute with “Oh, my goodness!” Denizens of the internet probably recognize the version of this phrase that’s become enshrined in meme-dom as “ermahgerd.” The rest of the countdown is HERE. Gerry visits the steam tractor museum today.  I realize my pictures are from Winter, and may not be as much fun as what he'll experience today.  On the other hand, steam is wonderful any time of year.

Archie's Contribution

We got the social coverage of Archie yesterday.  Today we wonder about the financial aspects of the new baby. What does he contribute to the British taxpayer?  Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle get 2.7 million visitors a year.  The monarchy's annual contribution to the UK economy is estimated at around 1.8 billion pounds a year, with an additional tourism revenue of 550 million pounds.  They work as ambassadors has been estimated to be worth 150 million pounds a year in increased trade. Then there are the secondary recipients of revenue - all those newspapers who cover royal weddings and royal babies.  That is valued at 50 million pounds a year. And the betting - it has been reported that baby-related bets totalled $1.3 million at the bookmaker William Hill.  Forbes reports that the royal infant could boost spending on baby products by about $1.5 billion. There's a lot of merchandise to commemorate the baby's birth.  These limited edition items are already sold out. These are just a few of the immediate and clear benefits.  There is an expectation of increased tourism numbers this year. And finally, there is the 'feel good' effect at a time of anxiety of Brexit. And how does this contribute? It is expected to boost spending across bars, restaurants, souvenir shops and museums.   So Archie is quite the contributor to the British economy:  we are in the era of "Money Reigns".  The monarchy will remain popular for quite a while.   Today's picture is an amazing abstract sky picture from a few years ago.  It seems like marble to me.

Archie?

The headline says "The meaning behind the royal baby's name".  I hope it has meaning, as it seems a strange and unusual choice.  The bookmakers had Alexander, Arthur and Albert.  Who would guess that the name Archie is in the top 50 names since 2003.  CNN claims that instead of a traditional royal name, they chose a name they loved. So there aren't really any Archies or Harrisons among the names of any British monarchs or their immediate offspring. So it turns out there is no meaning behind the name.  The Royal family succession tree is shown in the articles with its colour coding for royal bloodline, in line to the throne, married and divorced.  Archie is seventh in line to the throne, so does not quality immediately for the title of prince.  He has the right to use his father's second peerage title, Earl of Dumbarton.  When Prince Charles becomes King, Prince Harry's son will automatically become His Royal Highness Prince Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.  Rules abound with the royal family - they have had centuries to make rules.  Here's the note on the Queen's purse and its social signals: "The Queen isn't one to be rude, and so her purse is used to send subtle social signals. When she places her clutch on the table at dinner, it means it's time to wrap things up–so consider the bite you're reaching for your last. When she swaps her purse from her left hand to her right, it means she'd like to finish up her conversation." This little Fritilleria is blooming in the garden now.  What a strange and amazing checkerboard flower - I gave it an ornate background to match its mood.

Rattlesnake Point

Tomorrow is Astronomy Night at Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area.  Rattlesnake Point got its name from the snake-like path cut by the glaciers along the edges of the Niagara Escarpment. There are ten kilometres of cliff edge and forest trails that connect the Bruce Trail with Crawford Lake.  It is not named for the Massasauga Rattlesnake. And then I wondered about Massasauga vs Mississauga so turned to Wikipedia for guidance: "The Native American word, "massasauga", means "great river-mouth" in the Ojibwe language and was probably given to describe grasslands surrounding the river deltas in Ojibwe country." "The mississauga are a sub tribe of the Anishinaabe-speaking First Nations people located in southern Ontario, Canada. They are closely related to the Ojibwe. The name "Mississauga" comes from the Anishinaabe word Misi-zaagiing, meaning "[Those at the] Great River-mouth." It is closely related to the Ojibwe word Misswezahging, which means ‘a river with many outlets.’  Alternate spellings of the name are Mississaga, Massassauga and Missisauga, plural forms of these three, and "Mississauga Indians". Wikipedia says at the conclusion of Mississauga that the legacy is: The city of Mississauga is named after them (the Mississauga tribe). The Western and Eastern massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus) are named after them. Fort Mississauga in Niagara-on-the-Lake was named after them. As we approach summer, we're coming up to more War of 1812 events:  Nelles Manor, the Grimsby Museum and Coronation Park will be the sites of the celebration of the 205th Anniversary of the Engagement of the Forty. It took us 200 years to put the fun into our history.  Below is one of the reenactments of 2012 in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Richest Sports Gambler

Yesterday on JazzFM, Brad Barker and Bryan Snelson were discussing the world's richest sports gambler.  They were referring to James Holzhauer - the record-breaking "Jeopardy' champion.  He is on a 21 day winning streak, the second longest in history.  His story is here in business insider.  I think his winning streak is with Jeopardy.  He wins an average of $73,867 a game, according to the Boston Globe.  He is also a sports gambler, so that was what got Brad and Bryan's interest. There are a few famous sports gamblers of all time.  Billy Walters is considered the # 1 gambler.  This information comes from bestcasinosites.net:  Billy Walters:  "With a father professional poker player and an uncle professional gambler, it was no surprise that Billy made his first bet at the age of nine...According to reports, he makes about $15 million a year, and has made as much as $2 million in a day. His net worth is estimated at $200 million. And that’s not hard to believe, considering he makes really, really high bets – as high as $3,5 million. Well, technically not exactly he because for years he’s been using other people to place bets for him since not only is he not welcome in Vegas anymore, but most bookmakers will also refuse to take his bets.And while you may think he’d try to make these “beards” as inconspicuous as possible, he actually has Hollywood celebrities like Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher running his errands." Alan Woods: "The godfather of horse racing software, Alan Woods was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia, in 1945. In his early gambling career, he used math to count cards at blackjack tables until moving to Hong Kong in the 1980s. There, he teamed up with Bill Benter forming a syndicate that became the most successful in the history of the horse racing industry. The pair developed a software that took into account factors like the formulaic consideration of track, form, weather and more. After the partners separated in 1987, Woods moved on to Manila to a continuing success, teaming up with Zeljko Ranogajec.  As a true mathematician, Woods is said to have viewed horse racing as “nothing more than a mathematical equation to be solved”. At the time of his death in 2008, Woods was regarded as one of the biggest and best gamblers in the world and was estimated to have amassed a fortune of AU$670 million." Can you imagine being a math genius and instead of pursuing the great mathematics questions of our time, you figure out how to make a lot of money? That's what makes us curious about their childhoods.

BBQ Tidal Wave

The first BBQ event is here.  It begins the tidal wave of BBQ events for the summer. The first rib and craft beer fest in Toronto will be at Yonge and Dundas Square from Thursday May 16th to May 19th. This event will feature the best rib teams in Canada.  There's a Canadian BBQ Society and its events take place from February 2019 with the Challenge Igloo BBQ in Quebec.  The Canadian Stake Championship happened on Saturday in Langley B.C. There are Certified BBQ Judge Classes happening next weekend in Edmonton.  We get one of their events in August when Niagara Falls has the Summer Daze BBQ Classic. The Ontario Champion last year was Team Eatapedia.  Pitmaster was John Thomson.  Their website www.eatapedia.com - has recipes for grilled lime chicken breasts, rosemary-rubbed porch chops - well lots of meats and sauces and seasonings. What will happen on the plant-based front this year?  Does everything BBQ'd have to be meat?  Our local Sobey's had plant-based burgers in the meat section last week, with a promo sign outside of the store so I'm thinking BBQ season may be ready. Food and Wine Magazine had a review of plant-based burgers in its April issue. Their winner is Impossible Burger 2.0.  They compare the flavour to beef, whether it is juicy, density like beef, etc.  "This gluten-free burger has 19 grams of protein, and the new recipe uses soy protein, coconut oil, methylcellulose (a plant-based culinary binder), and sunflower oil. Really succulent and umami-y. Almost identical to beef.” Burger King has the biggest news:  it is testing Impossible Whoppers and supposedly employees can't tell the difference. Here are some views of the Ottawa Layout.

Super School Ahead

There will be a new super-high school built just across from Peninsula Ridge Winery.  Three high schools will become surplus properties - in Smithville, Beamsville and Grimsby. The first right of refusal goes to publicly funded school boards, followed by the lower tier municipality, upper tier municipality and then finally private developers.  Every time I exit the Canadian Tire plaza and see the Grimsby Secondary School at the end of the street under the escarpment, I wonder how tall a condo development might be built there.  We are under pressure of the Ontario government's intensification plan.  This is contentious in a small town that wants to stay small and not grow tall. In Beamsville's case the main portion of the school school has been designated as a heritage building, so is protected from demolition. But don't think that will invalidate development. The news article quotes a town councillor:  "All of a sudden we find ourselves with 13 acres of prime land."  What they mean is prime real estate for which they receive no property taxes.  There's a sign on Highway 8 at the location of the new super school, which is slated to open in September 2020.  the location straddles the Grimsby and Beamsville borders, and is the location of the Beamsville Brick Factory, founded in 1875. What is located below will be interesting. The blossoms have started to show.  We've had very cool, misty weather, and they typically come out with the warmth.  So a burst will likely take place in the next few days.  The weeping cherry on Niagara Street in St. Catharines seems to always be early.

May the Month of Spring

Here we are - May 1st - the month of spring. I had a cold on the weekend, and got to wondering about all those mugs of mint and honey tea passing through the urinary system.  One every 15 minutes is what I guessed.  Is that overtime work?  To find out what I'd forgotten since grade 8 (or whichever it was) science class, I went searching through the encyclopedia of the internet. My specific question - is 4 cups of water every hour ok?  It tells me yes - that's the limit.  There are serious consequences of drinking excessive amounts of water.  The urinary system is fascinating. It removes urea from foods containing protein. Urea goes through the bloodstream to the kidneys who remove the urea and extra water. The urine travels down two thin tubes to the bladder.  Muscles are constantly at work moving the urine - every 10 to 15 seconds into the bladder.  The bladder fills up, we eliminate what's in it, and on we go. So kidneys and water became the topic for jokes today. Kidney Jokes: England doesn’t have a kidney bank.... But it has a Liverpool What did the doctor say to the patient with kidney stones? Urine trouble but it'll pass Water Jokes: My friend in Africa was complaining about the lack of drinking water in his village. So I sent him a Get Well Soon card. 9 out of 10 doctors recommend drinking water over soda Not Dr. Pepper I stopped drinking water while studying chemistry My notes say adding water decreases concentration   Here's our abstract of the day - from the Port Dalhousie Pier of boats in storage for the winter.

Britannia is a girl and so are her boats

A Maritime Museum in Scotland has announced that it has begun referring to boats as 'it'.  While the Museum Director says this had begun earlier, it was announced after continued vandalism of signs - where 'she' has been scratched out of information signs.  This is where everyone got involved.  It is part of the current social frenzy over free expression. The article in the Independent.co.uk demonstrated this with a nonsense sounding quote by the side against the change: "Political correctness is getting out of hand, the few are trying to bully the majority," said Harry Silvers. "There is room in this world for everyone." Not all cultures view boats the way the British do. It turns out that in Russia, boats have the opposite gender. The world authority on boats is a British firm - Lloyd's List. The weekly shipping publication which has been in print for more than 250 years,  abandoned centuries of seafaring tradition by calling all vessels "it" starting in 2002. It did it to bring the paper into line with most other reputable international business titles.   We have a simple black/white decision in English.  The week.com tells me that if we were in Luganda, "there are ten genders: people, long objects, animals, miscellaneous objects, large objects and liquids, small objects, languages, pejoratives, infinitives, and mass nouns. But in Chinese, Finnish, and quite a lot of other languages, there are no genders at all."  It explains this in much more detail for those of you who love grammar.   This same article says this:  The problem is that the Old English word for "ship" (they spelled it scip) was neuter. The Old English word for "boat" (bat) was masculine. So was the word for "whale" (hwæl). And they didn't have a word for "car" (since people a thousand years ago didn't have cars). The use of the feminine pronoun in those instances isn't a holdover at all! It comes from more recent attitudes towards the things referred to.   Little did we know that this week's angry mob would include the Admiral Lord West. Switching topics.  We have continuing news each week on Grimsby coyotes: yesterday two people were bitten by coyotes walking along the street in town.  Coyotes live on the escarpment and above the escarpment - and anyone who has a house backing on to the escarpment hears them howling at night. These biting coyotes are living in the South Service Road and Maple Street area. They started chasing people on the town streets a few weeks ago, so the newspaper reports and warnings have been constant.  People have been pretty surprised - we're supposed to be the dominant species in town.  They don't realize that coyotes have no such rules.  Here's my boat of the day:

Bees at Notre Dame

Amongst the daily headlines is this one about Notre Dame:  180,000 bees were living on top of Notre Dame when the fire broke out - and they survived.  They have a beekeeper, so this isn't a surprise hive.  In fact, there were 3 beehives, and they are still intact.  The beekeeper is Nicolas Geant.  They were found to gathered together in the crevice of a gargoyle sculpture. How did they survive?  CO2 makes them drunk, and puts them to sleep.  You can imagine that the wax in the hives might melt with the intense heat from the flames.  Do you know that bees don't have lungs?  So there would be no possibility of dying from smoke inhalation.  Nicolas feels that it is a miracle. The hives have been there since 2013, an initiative to boost declining bee numbers in Paris.  This sculpture at the National Art Gallery seemed like an engineering feat to me.  How quickly the landscape has turned to spring.  Here's the upcoming meet and greet this Sunday in Hamilton on Dundurn St. S.

Those Rose Thorns

I am always victim to rose thorns in the garden. Enter garden, do a little work, get a rose thorn in the finger.  And the result?  Pain and swelling from the tiniest rose thorn.  Who do these tiny rose thorns hurt so much? Ask an expert: "DEAR DR. GOTT: Last spring, I contracted rose-thorn disease. Very painful and extreme swelling occurred in just one finger. I was in the hospital for days under sedation and on antifungal meds. I’m still having stiffness and swelling in that finger now and then. When will this go away? I must say, everything is not coming up roses here." DEAR READER: Rose-thorn (or rose gardener’s) disease has the technical name of sporothrix schenckii. It is a fungus that resides on hay, sphagnum mosses and the tips of rose thorns. It can cause infection, redness, swelling and open ulcers at the puncture site. The fungus can spread to the lymphatic system and move on to the joints and bones, where it ends up attacking the central nervous system and lungs when the thorn or thorns are deeply embedded.  Diagnosis can be complicated because the condition is relatively uncommon. When an ulcer does present, it is often mistaken by a physician as a staph or strep infection and gets treated accordingly.  It is only when the antibiotics prescribed fail to eradicate the ulcer that physicians look outside the box." Read the rest HERE. Doesn't it give this field of roses new meaning! Here's the upcoming meet and greet this Sunday in Hamilton on Dundurn St. S.