Nov 20 2023 - Swimming Pools

 

I was thinking of the San Simeon swimming pool.  There are larger more spectacular pools.  The definition of a swimming pool includes human-made lagoons.  That largest one is in Egypt. It had a price tag of $5.5 billion, according to one article. I do find out that there are at least 66 million gallons of water.  It covers 23.9 acres. For North Americans, there is the Lagoon at Epperson Florida (built by Crystal Lagoons), and the Hard Rock Guitar Motel in Hollywood, Florida.  Hard Rock Guitar Hotels are the stand-out with the amazing guitar-shaped hotel structures.  There seem to be Hard Rock hotels everywhere in the world. Did you know that Bronte Creek Provincial Park in Oakville is listed as one of the largest water pools, created in 1972.  It is 1.8 acres. It is now closed for renovations/rebuild.  How much does it cost to maintain a pool?  Forbes says that on average it costs $180 a month to keep a pool in use for us normals.  For the world's largest pool?  One article says $4 million annually.  But I wonder about that, don't you? It seems low. The company making most of these "crystal lagoons" is named Crystal Lagoons.  There are projects everywhere, and especially int he U.A.E and Dubai.  The project's architecture firm is Arquitectonica, based in Miami.   And here's a view of that San Simeon pool.

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June 7 2023 - That's a lot of different sexes

 

LGBTQ2S+  There are so many letters, numbers and symbols to represent sexual orientation.  I realized I didn't know what they all stand for.   It seems a shock to look something up and find out how extensive the lists really are.  Same-sex love and sexuality existed in ancient civilizations - that would account for L, G, B and T.  Wikipedia has a long list of ancient references and traces the history to current times with same-sex marriage and other topics. This seems so complicated now that we actually analyze it.  Human same-sex sexual attraction is considered to be an evolutionary paradox.  One supposes that heterosexual men/women produce more children than homosexual men/women, so one would think there would be less sexual orientation complexity today and not more.   This is considered to be one of those mysteries of life - figuring out the origin of sexual orientation. Here are the terms currently in use - the full article is HERE Main Sexual Orientation Terms Biphobia is an aversion toward bisexuality and bisexual people as a social group or as individuals. People of any sexual orientation can experience such feelings of aversion. Biphobia is a source of discrimination against bisexuals, and may be based on negative bisexual stereotypes or irrational fear. Bisexual a person who has emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction for people of more than one gender. Gay or Lesbian is a person who has emotional, romantic or sexual attraction for people of the same sex. Heterosexism is a behaviour that grants preferential treatment to heterosexual people, reinforces the idea that heterosexuality is somehow better or more “right” than queerness, or ignores/doesn’t address queerness as existing. Heterosexual is a person who is attracted to someone with the other gender (or, literally, biological sex) than they have; often referred to as “straight”. Homophobia is fear, anger, intolerance, resentment, or discomfort with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people, often focused inwardly as one begins to question their own sexuality. Questioning is the process of exploring one’s own sexual orientation, investigating influences that may come from their family, religious upbringing, and internal motivations. Sexual orientation is a person’s emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to another person(s). Same Gender Loving (SGL) is a phrase coined by the African American/Black queer communities used as an alternative for “gay” and “lesbian” by people who may see those as terms of the White queer community. Main Gender Identity Terms Binary Gender is a traditional and outdated view of gender, limiting possibilities to “man” and “woman”. Binary Sex is a traditional and outdated view of sex, limiting possibilities to “female” or “male”. Biological sex is the physical anatomy and gendered hormones one is born with, generally described as male, female, or intersex, and often confused with gender. Cisgender/Cissexual is a person whose gender identity matches society’s expectations of someone with their physical sex characteristics. Cis-man is a person who was assigned male at birth who ends up going through life identifying with male pronouns, and as a man. Cis-woman is a person who was assigned female at birth who ends up going through life identifying with female pronouns, and as a woman. Cissexism is a harmful belief that being cisgender (i.e. non-trans) is the only acceptable and “natural” form of gender expression. Gender/Gender Identity is how we perceive our identity as male, female, both, neither, regardless of our physical bodies. Gender Expression is the external display of gender, through a combination of dress, demeanor, social behavior, and other factors, generally measured on a scale of masculinity and femininity. Genderqueer/Gender non-conforming is an umbrella term that describes a person whose gender identity does not fit into socially constructed gender norms associated with “male” or “female”. Used by some people to defy gender restrictions and/or to deconstruct gender norms. Gender neutral pronouns include: Ze, Hir, Hirs, They, and Them. Gender Identity Disorder (GID) is a formal psychiatric diagnosis used by the medical profession to describe transgender people. The DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) has replaced GID with “Gender Dysphoria”. The classification of GID and Gender Dysphoria as a psychiatric diagnosis has pathologized transgender people and created much stigma. Intersex is an umbrella term used to describe a person whose physical sex characteristics or chromosomes don’t fit traditional medical definitions of male or female. Stealth is when a transgender person lives as their self-identified gender without other people knowing that they are/ever were trans (not all trans people identify as trans, which is why some people are stealth). Sex (biological sex) is a label we are given to describe our physical bodies and reproductive abilities. Characteristics of the body used to determine sex may include genitals, gonads, hormones, chromosomes, and secondary sex characteristics. Trans is an umbrella term for a person whose gender identity does not match society’s expectations of someone with their physical sex characteristics. Trans Man is a female-to-male trans person (a person who was assigned the female sex at birth, but identifies as male). Trans Woman is a male-to-female trans person (a person who was assigned the male sex at birth, but identifies as female). Transsexual is an older term that originated in the medical and psychological communities. Still preferred by some people who have permanently changed – or seek to change – their bodies through medical interventions (including but not limited to hormones and/or surgeries). Unlike transgender,transsexual is not an umbrella term. Many transgender people do not identify as transsexual and prefer the word transgender. It is best to ask which term an individual prefers. If preferred, use as an adjective: transsexual woman or transsexual man. Two-Spirit is a cultural identity used by some indigenous people who have both masculine and feminine spirits. Transphobia is an irrational fear and/or hatred and/or intolerance of people who are trans, perceived to be trans, or who cross societal gender norms. Transition is the process trans people go through to overcome physical, legal, and social barriers so they can express their self-identified gender. Third Gender (1) a person who does not identify with the traditional genders of “man” or “woman,” but identifies with another gender; (2) the gender category available in societies that recognize three or more genders. Transgender is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth. Please note that transgendered is not acceptable term to use as it implies that something happened to the person to make them transgender.   Here's a  trick of the eye - with the infinity pool that overlooks Lake Ontario /the Niagara River in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  There is no mystery here once you walk closer. 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Downhill

Downhill is all about biking. Downhill biking involves more than the downward slope of a hill.  Wikipedia tells me it is about jumps, drops, rock gardens and other obstacles.  Two tapes define the course and the riders compete for the shortest line and time to reach the finish. I've never seen downhill mountain biking.  There are races all over the world.  Whistler Mountain Bike Park is the best known in Canada and Canada has some well-known mountain bikers. There's a mountain biking war over illegal mountain bike trails in natural parks and the destruction of natural habitats.  There are many posts about this with site names like rambo-mtb.org, the lumberjack.org, and so on.  It isn't all serious - I found a few mountain bike jokes - most of them are for mountain bike riders, rather than us observers.   When my mountain bike hurts me, I kick it back. It’s a vicious cycle.   Bike pumps seem to get more expensive every year. It’s all that inflation.   What’s the difference between a tricyclist and a well-dressed mountain biker? Attire. Here is the British view of mountain biking - expressions and their true meanings. “You looked like you’ve had fun today!” – You look like you’ve eaten a kilogram of mud. “Nice bike you’ve got there” – I think my bike is better than yours. “You’ve ridden that trail before?” – Surely you’re not good enough to ride that trail? “See my fall up there?” – How many of my eight falls did you see? Our picture today is the swimming pool at the Sacramento hotel.

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Winter's Infinity Pool

A return visit to Grimsby Beach yesterday revealed a winter landscape of ice on rocks.  The waves of the day before have frozen and formed icicles. The old Grimsby pier still stretches out into the water even though it is much smaller than the days when the steamer Turbinia docked there.  I've included an historical postcard so you can see what it was like then. Yesterday's sunny scene was a remarkable one - with the pier covered in ice.  It had the appearance of an infinity pool with the blue ice floating over the blue water.  The gulls standing at the end of the pier make a wonderful focal point.