April 15 2021 - Pieces of Your Mind

 

Can there be a 'piece' of information in today's world.  It seems disturbing.  "This piece of information is extremely revealing" seems to leave things unorganized, without context, and leads one to concern.  It is as though information is just like pieces of pie. That's more of how I think of piece - as a a piece of cake, ham, cheese, pie, etc.  All more or less the same thing that has been broken or cut off.  That makes sense for cheese, pie and cake.  But "taking the car to pieces" doesn't make sense to me.  The car isn't made of pieces, but of parts.  If we take the car to pieces, it seems we've missed the step of dismantling the components which are formed of parts and then we can refer to things as pieces.  But then I am getting detailed.  The car is strewn all over the driveway like some sort of car crash. Whoever 'took the car to pieces' is going to get a 'piece of someone's mind'.  That's the thing - piece has a number of curious and interesting expressions: go to pieces nasty piece of work a piece of the action pick up the pieces say one's piece give someone a piece of your mind That last one is wonderful - as though you can break off a chunk, like cheese.  And knowing the expression, this will be an unpleasantly smelly cheese.  Even in its first reference, we get the sense of this:   "A piece of my mind" was first referenced by Sir Henry Ellis, 1824 quoting its use in an English letter in 1572:  "Thus am I bolde to unfolde a peece of my mynde." So off I go to find out what jokes there are for this moment of nasty behaviour: Before giving a piece of your mind make sure you got enough to spare If you keep giving people a piece of your mind, eventually you will run out of pieces to give What did the patient say when the neurosurgeon said she needed to remove a mass from his brain? Well, let me give you a piece of my mind! And of course, the ugly baby joke: Miriam gets on a bus with her baby. As she goes to pay her fare, the bus driver says to her, "I've seen a lot of babies in my time but that's the ugliest one I've ever seen in my life." Miriam is shocked and very angry at this insensitive remark. She sits down and starts to cry. The man next to her asks her what's the matter. Miriam replies, "The bus driver just insulted me." The man replies, "I wouldn't let him get away with it. You go and give him a piece of your mind. Go on--I'll hold your monkey for you."   Today's picture is the garden around the corner on Sunnylea.  A beautiful Magnolia tree is underplanted in spring flowers. This is a multi-exposure image to create a dreamy effect. Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 8 2020 - Six Afraid of Seven

It would be a trying time for a real estate agent.  I saw a For Sale sign the other day and the agent's name is Guth3.  I wondered if I could find a dictionary of such words. I didn't but I did find out a little about numeronyms - a number-based word.  K9 for canine. There are also alphanumeric acronyms, numerical contractions and alphanumeric expressions - they have become wide-spread with computer languages. Instead of a list of words that would be fun to peruse, I found one joke that demonstrates the usage: Why was 6 afraid to go camping with 7? Because 7 ONEted TWO bring THREE knives FOUR surFIVEal, but 6 secretly knew that 7 hEIGHTed him, and didn’t have beNINE inTENtions. Once we are on to six afraid of seven jokes, we should add a few more: Why is six afraid of seven? Seven is a registered six-offender Why was six afraid of seven? Seven eight nine. Why was 10 always so afraid? Because he was in the middle of 9/11 But do you know why seven ate nine? Because you're supposed to eat three squared meals a day But did you know that seven ate two numbers? Let me tell you about six who seven eight. Why didn't the two 4's feel like dinner? Because they already ...8 This orchard faces the QEW in Beamsville.  It is a combination of promise with the blossoms and abandonment with the remnants of weeds around the trunks. And a beautiful display of dandelions.

Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://www.blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

May 4 2020 - UFOs on May the Force be with you Day

What happened last week on the UFO front?  The Pentagon declassified three well-known UFO videos and acknowledged their existence as interactions with UFOs. Did you know that those who think that UFOs are proof of extraterrestrial life are known as 'believers'.  Tom DeLong, former guitarist and singer for Blink-182 is likely the best known believer -  he founded a private company that collects and researches the area.  He weighed in on the release of the information last week as monumental. I listed to the Matt Galloway interviews on the CBC radio as I travelled around taking pictures of orchards.  I probably haven't thought about UFOs since Close Encounters and ET.  I decided this was a wonderful hopeful topic, compared to our current crisis. So here's the believers 'sub channel' on  redit at https://www.reddit.com/r/UFObelievers/ with this mission: 🛸r/UFOBelievers👽 is a community made up of Ufologists, Astronomers, Researchers and other professionals from Europe, Canada and the United States. UFOB has a single goal in mind - to provide information and educate individuals who have an interest in the subject of Ufology but cannot fulfill it on the mainstream / establishment media. Our mission is to make disclosure a reality. Our Discord - https://discord.gg/Pa7SGQm Our Subreddits - r/UFODisinformation r/UFOAstronomy  The Washington Post's article is titled UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact and looks at the issues involved in treating UFOs as meaning extraterrestial life in comparison to being security  and safety questions/issues. "The question with the announcement is why official organs of the state are now acknowledging that UFOs exist. They are doing so because enough pilots are reporting UFOs and near-air collisions so as to warrant better record-keeping. They are not saying that these UFOs are extraterrestrials, but they are trying to destigmatize the reporting of a UFO." The Navy has retitled UFOs to UAPs - unidentified aerial phenomena.   I don't know the significance of this - it makes me think the 'things' may not be 'flying' - scientifically curious. Likely it signifies that the sightings don't involved any objects. The press thinks this announcement lacks newsworthiness and that it provides a distraction  to current problems.  The 'threat' of extraterrestrials seems to be considered a low security risk.   The skeptics and others alike are fascinated by the possibilities.  Being able to explore these phenomena as signs of extraterrestrial life is to explore "bigger, more philosophical questions". Nick Pope who spent years investigating UFOs for the U.K. ends the Matt Galloway interview with: "Let's have that conversation. It would be interesting and it would be fun." Here's a section of Stewart Road at Seaway Nurseries with its peach trees blooming as far as you can see in both directions.  And then a closer view of a John Street orchard's very old trees.

Read past POTD's at my Blog: http://www.blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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.

Blossoming in Progress

I saw some signs outside businesses on May the 4th - May the Force be with you.  So a belated May the Fourth be with you greeting.  May 4th is the official Star Wars Day celebrating the Star Wars franchise.  There were quizzes, great deals online, and a CBC article on people who admitted publicly that they were not fans and didn't care about THE FORCE. Our first blossoms opened this week.  I made the rounds to some favourite locations and was happy to capture these yesterday.  The first two pictures are at Scott Street and Stewart Road on the NOTL-side of the canal.  The last one is at John Street at Maple Grove where John does the jog.

The Blossom Trail

Niagara has been in bloom for about 2 weeks.  It seems shorter, and it is coming to an end.  Most orchards  are close to the Lake (on both sides of the QEW) and below the escarpment.  There are orchards from Grimsby right through to Niagara-on-the-Lake. These two orchards are in Vineland.  There are a lot of good orchards there - along John Street and Green Lane.  These are rural roads, and I am able to stop the car and take pictures from the car if I want.  This is drive-by photography at its best. I was lucky to catch some peach trees with their trimmed branches on the ground before they withered.  The peach trees are trimmed just at blooming, so the carpet of pink on the ground is a gorgeous display.