June 7 2022 - The Dress

 

The Black Dress, or little black dress, is considered to have been originated by Coco Chanel.  It is intended to be long-lasting, versatile, affordable, and widely accessible. I think the most famous version is the black dress of Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, designed by Hubert de Givenchy. It epitomized the standard for wearing little black dresses accessorized with pearls (together called "basic black"), as was frequently seen throughout the early 1960s.  Decades later came the "The Dress" - this was an internet sensation in 2015 when viewers of the image on Facebook disagreed on whether the dress was coloured black and blue or white and gold.  Millions of people got involved from all walks of life and all manner of celebrity status. It has become the subject of ongoing scientific investigations into neuroscience and vision science, producing a number of papers published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. There is currently no consensus on why the dress elicits such discordant colour perceptions among viewers, though these have been confirmed and characterised in controlled experiments. No synthetic stimuli have been constructed that are able to replicate the effect as clearly as the original image. Here are the two ways in which the photograph of the Dress may be perceived: left is the blue and black under a yellow-tinted illumination or white and gold under a blue-tinted illumination.  Here's the illustration and then the actual photo.  i can't make the dress white and gold at all.  What colours do you see?   The dress was intended to be worn by the Mother of the Bride at the wedding.  Can you imagine the scenario?  Bride pushed out of way while everyone stares at "The Dress". In comparison, In think everyone stared at Audrey Hepburn in the black dress,  standing in front of the Manhattan Tiffany's window eating a croissant. No mistaking that dress or that colour. I am eagerly waiting for my Marathon Lilies to bloom.  Here are some in Creemore, naturalized in a rural garden.

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Calgary Stampede

A festival I know little about is the Calgary Stampede.  It started on July 5th and runs until July 14th.  There are record-breaking crowds this year - over 1 million every year.  It is a rodeo, exhibition and festival.  It is considered the top rodeo in the world. There are rodeos from the beginning of July onwards.  Even Santa Rosa has a wine country rodeo.  They  are generally in the western provinces and states.  But the last one of the season is in Florida in November - the Newberry Lions Club Rodeo.  There are more than a hundred listings. I can't imagine what would happen if the Caribana Festival met the Calgary Stampede. Here are our cowboy/rodeo jokes for the day: How do you kill a rodeo clown? Go for the juggler! What do you call a rodeo bull with a sense of humor? Laughing stock.  A cowboy rides into town in the Wild West and shoot an artist. The sheriff asks him, "Why did you do that?" The cowboy says, "I thought he was going to draw." Where do cowboys cook their meals? On the range. If you wear cowboy clothes are you ranch dressing? A cowboy walks into a German car showroom and says, "Audi!" What do you call a retired cowboy? Deranged. Our Lily Show showcased Martagon lilies this year - they are the earliest to bloom.

Life Experiences with Elvis

If I were a younger person, would I use this service?  Lifexperiences.ca will help me find an 'experience' and send it as a gift.  If we look at the Lifestyle section, there are experiences such as: Axe Throwing in Saint Anns 30 Day Yoga Adventure - For Two Learn to Shop like a Pro Home-staging to sell OR Home-staging to stay My own idea is the following:  Did you know that there is a Niagara Falls Elvis Festival from April 20 - 22?  This is its second year.  There are gala shows, an Elvis Competition, delicious food, fun times and cool surprises, according to the website.  And then there is the Niagara Falls, with its thunderous water, flowers, and attractions. How many Elvis Festivals are there?  There's the Official Elvis Festival, at Lake George, New York.  There's one in Collingwood, Las Vegas, Texas, Georgia, and more.  Did you know that the largest festival is in Collingwood, Ontario?  It's in July.  If we were visiting Australia, the festival is January 9 - 13th next year.    There is an Elvis Week in Memphis in August.  It includes a candlelight vigil celebration.  Or watch the coverage here and see Elvis' comeback performance.  There's so much Elvis to go around that there is Elvis Radio - it is a station that plays Elvis 24/7.  That's a lot of Elvis music having been recorded.  Quora lists 523 albums and approximately 784 songs.   Some pretty pink lilies today.

The Purple Hills

Today we're checking out beautiful gardens in other parts of Southern Ontario. The weekend weather was noteworthy here in Southern Ontario with lots of rain and cold conditions.  It was reminiscent of August weather in Northern Ontario.  The sky in the Purple Hills around Creemore was a spectacle of swirling clouds that seemed to resemble icy mountains of snow. While it didn't rain on our garden tour, it did rain when I visited a garden full of Marathon lilies.  There were hundreds to thousands of self-seceded beauties on display.

Lily Season and the Martagons are Blooming

It's the start of Lily season - with flowers blooming from June through to the end of August, and that's just Liliums.  If you also grow Day Lilies, you can have bloom through September.

Here are two Martagons from my garden this week.

Oh Mirror, Mirror

Lily My Love