Mar 9 2023 - And they named him Noam

 

It is easy to recognize this name - Noam Chomsky. There are only 508 people in Israel with this name, and under 24,000 world-wide. His comments about ChatGPT came up in the news.  But there was no article attached to the headline. It has resurfaced today as a NY Times Opinion piece, so there isn't access to it. The summary says that his opinion won't be pretty though. In brief he calls it high-tech plagiarism and a way of avoiding learning.   He's one of our great 20th century intellectuals. He retired from teaching at MIT to become a "full-time public intellectual".  "He is credited with revolutionizing the linguistics field by introducing the Chomsky hierarchy, generative grammar and the concept of a universal grammar, which underlies all human speech and is based in the innate structure of the mind/brain."  That means we are genetically built for language and are born understanding how language works.  He is a great political thinker and considers capitalism inherently exploitative and dangerous.  He has been influential in many fields, and there is a long list of quotes credited to him.  Most are quite sobering: If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. “It’s ridiculous to talk about freedom in a society dominated by huge corporations. What kind of freedom is there inside a corporation? They’re totalitarian institutions – you take orders from above and maybe give them to people below you. There’s about as much freedom as under Stalinism.” “It is important to bear in mind that political campaigns are designed by the same people who sell toothpaste and cars.” “Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.” “It is quite possible–overwhelmingly probable, one might guess–that we will always learn more about human life and personality from novels than from scientific psychology” There are a lot of comics with Noam Chomsky.  The "most intellectual" joke I know category revealed this one: Werner Heisenberg, Kurt Gödel, and Noam Chomsky walk into a bar. Heisenberg turns to the other two and says, “Clearly this is a joke, but how can we figure out if it’s funny or not?” Gödel replies, “We can’t know that because we’re inside the joke.” Chomsky says, “Of course it’s funny. You’re just telling it wrong.” I found this comic strip at a site that references The Adventures of Noam Chomsky by Jeffrey Weston - a series of comics based on Chomsky's political views. The link isn't active to find more.   Snow drops in the snow this week.     Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Dec 20 2022 - And Thus Spake Charlie Brown

 

“What if, today, we were grateful for everything?”—Charlie Brown Don't think this morsel of wisdom stands alone.  Charlie and his crew were witty and wise beyond measure. They are particularly quotable at Christmas time, so we've included some today. I wondered if Charles Shultz himself is quoted.  It is hard to tell as there are  quotes with his name but they were in the cartoon strip as Charlie.  I did think this might be one of his own: "Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, 'Where have I gone wrong'. Then a voice says to me, 'This is going to take more than one night." These are all from "The Peanuts" cartoon series. 1. “In the book of life, the answers aren’t in the back.”- Charlie Brown 2. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it sure makes the rest of you lonely.”- Charlie Brown,  3. “Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today. It’s already tomorrow in Australia.”- Charlie Brown  4. “Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”- Charlie Brown,  5. “No problem is so big or so complicated that it can’t be run away from!”- Charlie Brown 6. "Lucy: Do you think you have Pantophobia, Charlie Brown? ~ Charlie: I don’t know, what is pantophobia? Lucy: The fear of Everything. Charlie: That's It!" 7. “Who, but a grownup, would ruin a beautiful holiday season for himself by suddenly attempting to correspond with four hundred people he doesn’t see all year?”- Charlie Brow 8. “I fall in love with any girl who smells of library paste.”- Charlie Brown 9. “I’ve developed a new philosophy. I only dread one day at a time.”- Charlie Brown 10. “I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it.”- Charlie Brown There are a lot more HERE.  I think the final one applies to The True North: Lucy Van Pelt: It's too early. I never eat December snowflakes. I always wait until January. Linus Van Pelt: They sure look ripe to me. Here's Millie in December 2020 - her first snowfall.

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June 24 2022 - Some Explaining to do

 

Was it Shakespeare?  No, it was Lucy and Ricky.  "Lucy, You Got some Splainin to do."  Can you imagine finding out that e never said this exact phrase.  And he never said:  "Lucy, I'm home. "  There are more quotes that were never said:  "We're gonna need a bigger boat." "Luke, I am your father." "Play it again, Sam."  "Do you feel lucky, punk?"  They are all immortal lines from the big screen.  "Beam me up, Scotty."  That was never said, either.  The closest was "Beam us up, Mr Scott."  That was once.  Or "Damn it, Jim! I'm a doctor."  Or "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it."  It must be TV sci-fi shows.   One of our favourites was to run around waving our arms exclaiming:  "Danger, Will Robinson" - it was only exclaimed once on Lost in Space.  How do we live in such a poor recall time where we twist up and contort things?   We didn't ever twist Shakespeare's famous lines. Take Hamlet's soliloquy's first line "To be, or not to be: that is the question". There's Polonius' pep talk:  "This above all:  to thine own self be true." Or Malvolio in Twelfth Night:  “…be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em.” Yes, and you can quote Shakespeare exactly on:  "All the world's a stage" and "What a piece of work is man". Another place we get quotes wrong is the Bible:  'Money is the root of all evil.' It actually is: The love of money is the root of all evil, according to Timothy 6:10. But we don't actually get the words wrong in the Bible.  The explanations are that we are misinterpreting the meaning, rather than getting the actual words wrong.  That brings us back to Ricky who might say "You've got some splaining to do about this Bible verse." I call this house in Grimsby "The Doll's House".

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Dec 28 2020 - Piece of Cake

 

I hadn't considered how boorish Boris Johnson is. So I went hunting for his words to figure out the extent of this behaviour.  I find some of his statements are whimsical, nonsensical, and absurd, and therefore, very entertaining.  Here are my chosen few:   I have as much chance of becoming Prime Minister as of being decapitated by a frisbee or of finding Elvis. I've got more in common with a three-toed sloth than I have with Winston Churchill. There is no easy comparison with any modern politician. The more you read about him, the more completely amazed you are about what he did - his energy, his literary fecundity, his ability to work - just unbelievable energy My friends, as I have discovered myself, there are no disasters, only opportunities. And, indeed, opportunities for fresh disasters. Never in my life did I think I would be congratulated by Mick Jagger for achieving anything. And who would guess that cake is the subject for words of wisdom and comment.  Boris Johnson has weighed in on to the subject of cake.   My policy on cake is pro having it and pro eating it. Many people - authors, comics, and others - have words about cake: If you're trying to create a company, it's like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion. Elon Musk You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, 'See if you can blow this out.' Jerry Seinfeld You know you're getting old when the candles cost more than the cake. Bob Hope All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much. George Harrison For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake. Alfred Hitchcock Photographing a cake can be art. Irving Penn  The most dangerous food is wedding cake. James Thurber It makes sense that there are lots of Cake Celebration Days: a National, International and World Cake Day.  There's Ice Cream Cake Day, Chocolate Cake Day, Cheesecake Day, and I would guess a celebration day for most of the kinds of cake.   Think of one and look it up.  Carrot Cake?  February 3rd.  Pound Cake Day?  March 4th.  Tiramisu Cake Day? March 21st.  I rest my case.     I consider the Amaryllis to be a semi-official flower of Christmas in the Northern Hemisphere.  Here's one from the Niagara Falls Showcase Greenhouse last Christmas.   Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Sep 26 2020 - How the Days Fly

 

"Time Flies when you're having fun."  Or: "How time flies." Alexander Pope's version: "Swift fly the years."   And the originator: Tempus fugit is a Latin phrase, usually translated into English as "time flies". The expression comes from line 284 of book 3 of Virgil's Georgics, where it appears as fugit inreparabile tempus: "it escapes, irretrievable time". I think that is September's experience.  Warm days, cool days, cold nights, then warm days again. So much happens in September that we are 'overrun' with the experience.  And it is an enjoyable one.  Here, in Niagara and Ontario where the leaves turn colour.  Perhaps less so other places, as it ranks only mid-way in the much quoted 2005 American poll.  Is it true that Albert Einstein said "Time flies when you are having fun"?  Here's what one article gives as the entire quote from Einstein:  "When You’re Having Fun Time is an interesting beast, because it is relative. Put your hand on a stove and time moves slowly. Boredom draws our attention to the passage of time which gives us the feeling that it's slowing down. Watch an excellent movie with someone you love and time flies by. Ultimately it may come down to how much you believe that time flies when you're having fun. Always choose your actions wisely!!!" I can't imagine Einstein using three exclamation marks.  But there is a low chance that I can prove this as I've just gone to the wikiquote.org website to look for the quote, and there are hundreds or perhaps thousands of quotes in the article on Einstein.  They list them by year, by event, by person, by disputed, by post-humous, and so on.  There are many quotes because he said many interesting things. So right now Summer and Fall sit side by side in the trees. Here is the green and red of a Sumac yesterday.  And then there will be none.  And we'll say:  "How time flies". Enjoy this wonderful weekend!

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Sep 18 2020 - More of Just To Say

 

William Carlos Williams' poetry is quoted often.   There are other more quoted poets.  While I didn't look up who has the most quotes, I was fascinated by who is quoted most.  Here is the countdown.  Can you imagine that Alexander Pope is in the first position, and Shakespeare is down at fourth?  Some of the poets are referred to by first and surname, and others just by surname.  Is that sloppy naming conventions? No matter, this is a remarkable chart.        Here are the 50 best known lines of poetry: This is all from blog.inkyfool.com and is the Fifty Most Quoted Lines of Poetry.  The most quoted line from Alexander Pope is also the best known line of poetry: To err is human;  to forgive, divine. So back to William Carlos Williams and his imagist,  enjambed poems.  Here is one his most quoted, as compared to most parodied poems.  Would you like the interpretation?  Take a look at the line-by-line analysis HERE. The Red Wheelbarrow so much depends upon   a red wheel barrow   glazed with rain water   beside the white chickens Here are his words on poetry's place in our lives: It is difficult to get the news from poetry, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. Our layout pictures today seem the opposite of the poem above.  Nothing sparse here!

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Work and Play and Boomerang!

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"   Boomerang from Instagram. This is an app that "makes everyday moments fun and unexpected.  Create captivating mini videos that loop back and forth, then share them with your..."  We're working on the Fantasy of Trees and one of the Museum staff  just found this app, something that might get attention to the upcoming event - our little version is HERE. This 'all work and no play' phrase is centuries old, so there are a number of quotes that reference it. I've included the ones that are thought-provoking and come from interesting and notable people.   All work and no play makes Jack a dully boy - and Jill a wealthy widow. ~Evan Esar, 1899 - 1995, American humorist, author of 20,000 Quips & Quotes All work and no play makes jack.  With enough jack, Jack needn't be a dull boy. ~Malcom Forbes, publisher of Forbes magazine As if a man's soul were not too small to begin with, they have dwarfed and narrowed theirs by a life of all work and no play:  until here they are at forty, with a listless attention, a mind vacant of all material of amusement, and not one thought to rub again another, while they wait for the train.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson, 1850 - 1894, British novelist, poet, essayist, musician and travel writer of Treasure Island You may try your experiment for a week and see how you like it.  I think by Saturday night you will find that all play and no work is as bad as all work and no play ~Louisa May Alcott, American novelist and poet, Little Women (1868) All work and no play may make Jim a dull boy, but no work and all play makes Jim all kinds of a jackass. ~William Randolph Hearst, American newspaper publisher, partial inspiration for the movie Citizen Kane We have two pictures today of play and then of work.

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If In Doubt

The expression is "when in doubt"... Here are some of the expressions that are paired with this: When in doubt wear red. ~ Bill Blass When in doubt, don't. ~ Benjamin Franklin Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent. ~ Napoleon Hill A conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother when in doubt. ~ Woodrow Wilson When in doubt tell the truth. ~ Mark Twain These are from Brainyquotes, you have to go over there to see them all - they aren't easily copied.  When I look through quotes, I am amazed at the diverse range of people being quoted.  From Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain to current comedians to names I don't recognize.  So I chose one randomly - Ken Thompson. Ken Thompson - When in doubt, use force.   Ken Thompson is a computer scientist who worked on the Unix operating system.  Here is my favourite: Ken Thompson was once asked what he would do differently if he were redesigning the UNIX system. His reply: "I'd spell creat with an e."