Sep 9 2023 - More Prison News

 

Here's another "who would have guessed this headline?" Yesterday's escaped murderer holding out in Longwood Gardens is still at large, and the Mushroom Festival - Kennet Square is known for its Portobello Mushroom crop, is set to begin.  There are 400 officers in the search team along with multiple helicopters. Because I searched for the escaped prisoner topic, this promo popped up yesterday.   It is for Kingston Penitentiary.  This seems to me to be  surreal - here's the promo: Pumpkinferno at Kingston Pen "Canada’s oldest penitentiary and popular historical site is about to glow in the dark this Halloween season. How, you may ask? Pumpkinferno is taking over Kingston Pen for the first time ever and showcasing the most elaborate, creative, and spook-tacular glowing pumpkin creations. Here’s what to know. Pumpkinferno at Kingston Pen after dark is new for the site and is sure to round up eager attendees for what’s to be an exciting fall event. You’ll surely find yourself mesmerized “as the historic site is transformed into an enchanted wonderland of glowing pumpkins,” according to Kingston Pen Tours. Guests of all ages are welcome to explore the Jack-O-Lantern exhibit and take pictures of the sculptures." Having been on a tour of the Kingston Pen, it remains a haunting experience for me.  I can't imagine it transforming into frolic fun after-dark.   Here's a picture from our tour a few years ago. There's a wall that I can't imagine being scaled in a crab walk.  But who knows?   We didn't get to Durango or Santa Fe on our Denver trip.   I found this image from the last visit in 2017 - the beautiful white aspen trunks cascade down the mountainside and reflect in the lake below.

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Aug 1 2023 - Most

 

How many is most?  Most of the time, most people, the most iconic photographs, the most...pick a topic and you can find a headline that starts with this word. The greatest in amount, quantity or degree. It is a determiner, a pronoun and an adverb.  It forms a superlative -  "the most important event of my life".   And what percentage is considered most?  Quora commenters weigh in on this one:   "While “most” literally just means more than half, it is best used to mean something like 60% to 90%. Below 60% you should consider terms like “more than half” or “a small majority”. Above 90% you get in the territory of “almost all” or “a large majority”. Of course, this depends on context." But most isn't really a percentage word, is it?  Not anymore, it seems.  Looking at the headlines, it is a boasting word, a bragging term.  At the least it is a comparative based on opinion and draws our attention to it.   That's why I think we are so attracted to headlines with most in them.  There aren't any movies, songs, or websites named "Most".  There is a city in the Czech Republic, but none in the US or Canada.  Don't expect to find it recommended as a baby name. By itself, it doesn't have much to say. A search on the single word - most - reveals a lot about us it comes up with:  most beautiful women, most attractive men, most expensive cars and most beautiful places in the world.  There are lots of other mosts, but these are the top ones. Here's an iconic flower of summer - the sunflower.

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Nov 28 2022 - Mithra's Christmas

 

Mithra(s) was a Roman god, and the subject of the December 25th festival.  History says that Mithra was the first immaculate conception and born on December 25th - the son of the Sun God, so also known as son of God.  The creation of the world is central to the Mithraic mythology.   This was a significant god and a significant Roman religion with its mysteries.  There were many temples and sanctuaries to Mithra, and Mithraism is viewed as a rival of early Christianity.   It is generally held that the Christians appropriated the festival of Mithras' birth celebration on December 25th - the winter solstice - with similar light metaphors and correspondence between Christ and the sun. Considering they were rival religions, the Mithraists faced persecution from the Christians in the 4th century when Constantine ruled. This religious community disappeared.   What fascinates me is how successful the Christians were at banishing all other religions.  They termed all of them as 'pagan'.   As a definition, pagan was rustic, unlearned, bumpkin, villager, country dweller, and so on.  It became an all-embracing, pejorative term for polytheists.  It was us vs them. This approach worked, but It brings baggage. That means that when today's biblical historians are tracing the roots of various holidays and festivals they always find themselves in "pagan" territory.  Remember John Milton who as a Puritan was part of the banishment of Christmas based on its origins as a "pagan" festival.   So any time you read about the Christmas traditions in those" four things you might not know about Christmas" articles on the internet, you will inevitably find Mithras in the mix of the discussion.   This motion blur image of birch trees seems to have the right tones for this time of year Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Nov 1 2022 - Miniature Stuff,

 

Hardly anyone came for Halloween - it was raining here.  But I did buy cute little candies - little gummy Minions and tiny Kinder chocolates.  They seemed irresistable to buy as compared to eat. Why do miniature things fascinate us?  This is reported to be part of the "psychology of cuteness".  And I had no idea that this has been a topic of research for more than 70 years.   Konrad Lorenz, the German ethologist introduced the concept of the baby schema ("Kindchenschema") in 1943. The "baby schema" is the theory that certain physical features that are typically associated with babies—like a round face and big eyes—are so irresistibly cute to humans they will prompt us to feel a delightful desire to take care of someone or something.  I guess that goes for puppies and kittens, too. Lots has happened since then, and research says these are also factors: they bring back the comforts of childhood, that we experience awe and wonder, that tiny things are nice and non-threatening, and symbolic of stand-ins for the real thing.  How many tiny and miniature things are there that you can actually use?  A lot of things. I like the Miniature Mixer - $43. How tiny is it? 2" x 1.2" x 2.2" Don’t relegate this battery-powered mixer to the dollhouse — or at least know that you can break it out for non-pretend baking needs, too. It’s a working kitchen tool that can be used to whip up undersized baked goods for people who are into the tiny food craze.  The Leaf Blower which is $13 from Pottery Barn  How tiny is it? 6" x 2.5" x 2" You won’t get far using this teensy leaf blower in the yard, but it delivers a stronger-than-expected gust of air that will do away with dust that’s settled on keyboards, bookshelves, and other small and overlooked spaces. The Bob Ross By The Numbers Mini Paint Kit $10 from Target How tiny is it? 3" x 3.75" x 2" This minute art kit includes three paint-by-number canvases (two landscapes and one portrait of iconic TV painter Bob Ross), along with art supplies and, of course, a petite easel on which to display your work.  There are more crazy things HERE.  Our November Calendar reminds us that November is not as dreary as we think.  These pictures of the Willow at Charles Daley park are taken mid-November.  And Japanese Maples also keep their beautiful colours well past the middle of November.     Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 17 2022 - Not Bathing

 

When the Mayflower arrived, the Pilgrims were noted for their bad smell.  They washed their hands and faces on a daily basis, but that was it. That was the 17th century when it was a practice to not wash and that  underwear "would keep the body clean."  The hosting Indigenous peoples disagreed, but couldn't persuade them to get clean. It was a combination of morality and disease.  The issue was bath houses: "It doesn’t seem as if most church organizations had a big problem with the bathing itself, just the perceived immorality exhibited at many bath houses. For example, 6th century Pope Gregory I is known to have encouraged Christians to bathe regularly. And, as alluded to, Muslim and Jewish groups were likewise known to be even more fastidious than their Christian brethren about keeping clean." "As to why (bathing decreased), around the mid-14th century - about 60% of the European population died within about seven years or so - not too dissimilar to “The Snap”,  but in this case because of the Black Death. This saw the former popular practice of people communing in bath houses together start to become decidedly less popular for a time, though it seems to have picked back up after. "Twenty-five years ago, nothing was more fashionable in Brabant than the public baths. Today there are none… the new plague has taught us to avoid them" "There doesn’t seem to be a time in recorded history that people are known to have ceased bathing in some form altogether, with the record for the least hygienic not going to our ultra distant ancestors like medieval peoples or those before, but to our more recent ones, with the abandoning of better hygiene by some groups around the 16th century and beyond thanks to widespread disease and the development of more prudish attitudes." And let's check out our current times.  We also have our kings and queens who boast of not bathing, and gave the impression the majority of the population held their "beliefs". It is celebrities who make these similar boasts today - I guess they send above like "kings and queens":  "The tiny yet influential sector of the population who popularized juice cleanses and jade eggs—are touting the skin-care benefits of not washing. “You should not be getting rid of all the natural oil on your skin with a bar of soap every day,” Shepard argued.  “It’s insane.”  Or, as Gyllenhaal described his strategic non-showering: “helpful for skin maintenance.” And bathing their children: “Now, here’s the thing: If you can see the dirt on them, clean them. Otherwise, there’s no point,'” Kutcher added. On to Kristen Bell: “I’m a big fan of waiting for the stink. Once you catch a whiff, that’s biology’s way of letting you know you need to clean it up.” It moves on to a racial theme:  “Celebrity white folks bragging about not showering have the privilege of not worrying about stereotypes they’re inherently ‘dirty,’ said journalist Jemele Hill. “Black folks don’t have that luxury. *Most* of us were raised to be obsessively clean because we always have to ‘present well’ for white folks.”  Bathing seems to remain a very important topic - who could guess there would be a "no bathing" movement now. Today's pictures are motion blur on the highway amongst the pines.

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Oct 10 2022 - Rogue Waves

 

The Weather Network insert videos shows a rogue wave in Miami.  That was Sep 30th.  Six people were injured when people were swept off the boardwalk, into the waves and some of them over the fence into the rock wall and down to the water below.    I found the twitter video which doesn't have the ads, etc.  HERE  There's a lot in Wikipedia on Rogue Waves.   The one that changed it all was the Draupner wave.   "The Draupner wave (or New Year's wave) was the first rogue wave to be detected by a measuring instrument. The wave was recorded in 1995 at Unit E of the Draupner platform, a gas pipeline support complex located in the North Sea about 160 kilometres (100 mi) southwest from the southern tip of Norway. The rig was built to withstand a calculated 1-in-10,000-years wave with a predicted height of 20 metres (64 ft) and was fitted with a state-of-the-art set of sensors, including a laser rangefinder wave recorder on the platform's underside. At 3 pm on 1 January 1995, the device recorded a rogue wave with a maximum wave height of 25.6 metres (84 ft). Peak elevation above still water level was 18.5 metres (61 ft).The reading was confirmed by the other sensors.The platform sustained minor damage in the event. In the area, the significant wave height was approximately 12 metres (39 ft), so the Draupner wave was more than twice as tall and steep as its neighbors, with characteristics that fell outside any known wave model. The wave caused enormous interest in the scientific community." The causes of rogue waves is still under active research.  And there are now measurement devices to capture the size. How high can they get?  130 feet high in the eyeball.   In 2006, researchers from U.S. Naval Institute theorised rogue waves may be responsible for the unexplained loss of low-flying aircraft, such as U.S. Coast Guard helicopters during search and rescue missions.  In 2019, Hurricane Dorian's extratropical remnant generated a 30-metre (100 ft) rogue wave off the coast of Newfoundland. These seem unimaginable, but here we are now with cameras that are capturing the extent of the waves.  For example, it is theorized that the SS Edmund Fitzgerald (1975) – Lost on Lake Superior was sunk by a rogue wave. Another nearby ship, the SS Arthur M. Anderson, was hit at a similar time by two rogue waves and possibly a third, and this appeared to coincide with the sinking around ten minutes later. One of my favourite pictures - motion blur waves.

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Oct 5 2022 - I am not FITBitter

 

Remember when FITBITs came on the scene?  They were written off as a fitness fad with the criticism similar to the spending too much time on your iPhone looking at social media. Smartwatch Studies have been completed.  A lot of studies. There are results of 121 scientific trials with devices which involved 16,000 people.  Overall people who wear monitors take an extra 1,200 steps each day and complete nearly 50 minutes more of exercise per week.  The daily activity increases were described as small to moderate.  That magic number of 10,000 is so easy to understand.  It brings exercise right into focus.  And lack of exercise, combined with diet, is considered to be one of the leading causes of obesity in the UK.   The article on the FITBIT in the Daily Mail said that six out of 10 adults in the UK are obese and rates in children even higher. One in seven children in England are obese by the time they start primary school. I decided that was an unusually high number, so I looked up the adult obesity rates in the world, and in 2016: U.S. obesity rate was 36.2% United Kingdom 27.8% Canada 29.4% That's still a lot of people with a lot of health conditions brought on by obesity.   Since that first introduction in 2009, there are now all kinds of smartwatches on the market.  FITBIT doesn't seem to be in the list of the top 7.  And what's the latest feature?  Crash detection when someone has been involved in a car crash and alert emergency services if the wearer is unresponsive.

Movement on the Toronto subway. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 12 2022 - Does My Dog Laugh?

 

Does Millie, my dog laugh?  What would I look for in a dog laugh?  This comes from petsafe.net:   "Konrad Lorenz, a Pulitzer prize winning Austrian zoologist and ethologist, also believed dogs had the capacity to laugh, and wrote about it in his book, Man Meets Dog (Routledge Classics, 2002). He agreed with Fox that the “dog laugh” most often happened during play with a beloved human, with the canine somewhat mimicking the human smile with open mouth and stretched lips. But he also pointed to a very specific “doggy laugh” sound that was described as a huffing breathy “laugh pant” behavior. Researcher Patricia Simonet followed Lorenz’s speculation with experiments recording dog sounds during the early 2000s. She recorded dogs while they played at the park, and later analyzed the sounds they produced. Simonet said the dog laughter sounds like panting, sort of a “hhuh, hhuh” sound. But once she analyzed the recordings, the sounds were quite different than normal panting. Dog laughter panting included a broader range of frequencies than every day dog panting produces. To further test her theory, Simonet played the doggy laughter sounds to a group of 15 puppies. The sound made them frolic and romp with joy, making her speculate they recognized the laugh-pant as a play signal." It would be nice to find us a video of a laughing dog.  Maybe this one HERE.  What do you think?   This is a big dandelion year.  And orchards and vineyards have fewer chemicals making for a wonderful blossom display.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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April 21 2022 - Angels vs Celebrities on the Head of a Pin

 

Are we more obsessed with celebrities now than in past times?  I expect so.  And that we consider them in a higher sphere of living than the rest of us.  "Celebrities are fascinating because they live in a parallel universe—one that looks and feels just like ours yet is light-years beyond our reach."  I wondered about whether this might be the case that we could debate celebrities on the head of a pin.  The original question is attributed to medieval times.  "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? " This is considered key to medieval scholarship.  It was "used to challenge medieval theologians."  Others say this expression is a past urban myth about the middle ages.  You can see many more medieval myths HERE. Things like the earth is flat, some medieval Pope instituted fasting from meant on Fridays to help the fishing industry of the Papal States, they burned millions of witches at stakes, and so on. And if we want a bit of entertainment, one article gives this ironic answer:  "Perhaps the final answer to this medieval conundrum lies in a casual remark made to Senate by the Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, Professor Raoul Mortley "The answer is of course well known; fewer if fat, more if thin". (The Editor)"   Today the angel expression is a metaphor for unimportant intellectual debate while more important and urgent concerns accumulate.  Substituting celebrities for angels seems to make sense.

I was in Toronto yesterday dropping my brother off at Toronto Western Hospital for his knee surgery.  I didn't get any such motion blur pictures.  I did get to experience the very bad state of Toronto streets with winter's potholes.  It seemed like another universe to Niagara, given I haven't driven through Toronto's streets for two years. And how will today's experience go? We pick him up to take him home post operation with the knee in a less ambulatory state. Yesterday I wasn't allowed into the hospital to assist him with his bag and walker. Without any assistance, his bag was misplaced.  He didn't get it till much later in the day.  Let's see if they let me in today to retrieve him and the bag. It made me wonder how anyone actually gets out of a hospital during the Pandemic.   Maybe the question is how many discharged patients can dance on the head of a pin in a hospital? Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca