Marilyn's Photos - June 28 2025 - Portage and Main sees the light of day

 

I've somehow thought that Portage and Main might be the centre point of Canada.  In fact, it is called the crossroads of Canada and it is close to the longitudinal centre of Canada.  So forcing pedestrians to cross the heart of Canada in complicated underground tunnels is a nasty metaphor.  It isn't the one AI says - "can be viewed as a metaphor for prioritizing vehicle traffic and economic development over pedestrian accessibility and the vibrancy of urban spaces."  That's actually what happened in 1979 and the impacts can be measured over the decades.    How did it come about?  "Trizec promised to build two office towers and a hotel on the southwest corner of Portage and Main, along with an underground retail space that would double as a heated, sheltered crossing for pedestrians, saving them from Winnipeg's winter winds." So aren't we back to one of my themes - "Money is the root"  - everything can be traced as coming from money and going to money.   How do I conclude this?  It is the explanation of the reopening of Portage and Main.  The report was that it would cost a whopping $73 million to bring it up to current safety standards and maintain it.  Add to that four to five years of traffic delays.  Removing barricades and redesigning crossings and curbings, and then install lights - that was in the $20 to $50 million range.  So we who use our feet have a $ value in Winnipeg.   I return to the metaphor of Portage and Main as the centre, or heart, of Canada.  The intersection became the centre of plebiscites,  mayoral platforms and continuing political debate. So much activity seems to indicate there is "Canadian identity" at stake here.  And so the battle has been won -  the heart of Canada will again see the light officially on July 1st 2025 at 10:30am when the pedestrian signals start. There have to be jokes about this most famous intersection:  I tried to make a joke about Portage and Main, but it was too congested. Why was the map of Winnipeg always getting lost? It never had a proper *Portage* through the city. Why did the pigeon get a job at Portage and Main? He heard it was the crossroads of opportunity. I tried to make a joke about Portage and Main, but it was too *crossing*.

This is Martagon lily time -lots of little fairy flowers on a long stem - so a pretty show in the garden.  I remember a grower showing me pictures of his Martagons in his Winnipeg garden - they were 3 to 4 times the height of my lilies - probably more than 30 flowers on a stem six feet high.  I wonder if that makes Winnipeg a destination town.

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June 24 2021 - In a Nutshell

 

You can find a lot "in a nutshell."  But mostly history. It started with Roman writer Pliny's description of Homer's Iliad being copied in so tiny a hand that it could fit in a nutshell. That is such a wonderful image, isn't it? Kurzgesagt is German for "in a nutshell" and it is a German animation and design studio started in 2013.  I was attracted to the more literal translation of the name:  "shortly said."  The company has explained many things in 10 minutes or so - things like The origin of consciousness, Wormholes, How to build a Dyson Sphere.    These are termed explainer videos. They did extremely well explaining the Coronavirus in 2020. Without YouTube, where would this all be? YouTube has made some many things possible. What is the top youtube channel?  One place says T-Series with 185 million subscribers, another says PewDiePie with 102 million. (PewDiePie is Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, Swedish comedian).  The rankings are by Series or Personalities.  They are all in the multi-millions.  Imagine writing something and it goes out to 185 million people.  Wouldn't that involve a lot of replies and comments, requests for brand representation, and other things like this?   I guess so as there are lots of YouTube videos on the day in the life of a YouTuber, so I expect I could find this out - the videos listed say things like "10 key moments in this video" or "7 key moments in this video", and so on.   I am a YouTube viewer with Millie. She likes to watch cat and dog videos, and responds particularly well to other Cavaliers talking.   It is Martagon lily season - these are small down-facing lilies - many on a tall stem - maybe 3 feet tall.

Floral Fire

Pioneer Flowers in St. Catharines has a major fire that started Friday night and burned until Saturday evening. y.  The road was blocked at our favourite cherry tart winery.  Pioneer is just south of 13th Street Winery, so everything was off limits.  The smoke was billowing from the area when I was there in the morning.  There were hotspots at 7:00pm Saturday evening. Here are the St. Catharines Standard pictures of the fire on Friday night at 11:00pm and then Saturday in the day.   Their facility had 300,000 square feet of greenhouse space and three acres of cold storage. There were packaged tulips and peat moss.  Can you imagine?  Peat is still used as a fuel in parts of the world.  And then there are the chemicals, plastic pots and wraps that are used in a greenhouse operation - that could be toxic. The living quarters and all the belongings of the migrant workers were destroyed, so people have been donating to rebuild their homes and personal lives.  What I notice about breaking news is it gets reported over and over, and then all goes dead or just a few updates.  The Pioneer Flower Farms website has a statement on their home page of the website.   It is HERE.  They say they are continuing to harvest their outdoor flower crops. These are the sunflower fields where I never get to take a picture of blooming sunflowers - they get mechanically picked before the bright sunny heads open up.  The Star Wars-looking machines hulk their way over the fields, seemingly leaving everything devastated  (To the photographer's eye). Here is a pretty stem of the Martagon Lily.

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Waifs and Strays Society

I saw a shadow on the wall and the shape made me think of a 'waif' - a child with dishevelled hair, big wide-open eyes and a heart-shaped chin. In the 1800's, homeless people and children were known as 'waifs and strays' - the definition has a few possibilities: 1. a person, especially a child, who has no home or friends. 2. something found, especially a stray animal, whose owner is not known. 3. a very thin, often small person, usually a young woman. 4. a stray item or article: to gather waifs of gossip. 5. Nautical. waft. It likely is the Miserables poster that made the look so familiar.  And also Annie.  The start of waif look in modelling can be attributed to Twiggy in the 1960's. "Twiggy’s large doe eyes, long mascara-coated lashes and waif-like frame defined the era.  Her leggy androgynous look became the ideal mannequin for mod fashion and is still referenced today on the runway and in editorials." So one might expect to see techniques for creating 'those huge eyes'.  Of course, Google has an answer for that question.  There are a few answers - varying between 8 and 11 ways to make your eyes look bigger. Here's how. Define your brows. ...  Add dimension to your crease. ...  Add shimmer at the inner corner of the eye. ...  Use light, neutral colors on the lid. ...  Line the inner rim of the lower lid with a flesh-toned pencil. ...  Apply mascara to lower lashes. ...  Curl your eyelashes. ...  Apply mascara to top lashes. Apply false eyelashes