Oct 7 2021 - Lightning hits the world records

 

The Weather Channel showed a picture of a tree in flames and had a short headline on what lightning can do.   Looking up world records on lightning, I find that the world record lightning strike happened in October 2018 and was confirmed in 2020.  "A new world record lightning strike of 440 miles has been confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization, according to a Thursday announcement. The "megaflash" traveled that distance over parts of southern Brazil on Oct. 31, 2018, the WMO said. This is equivalent to the distance between Washington, DC, and Boston. In addition to the longest flash in terms of distance, a world record for longest lightning strike in terms of time was also announced: A single flash lasted 16.73 seconds over northern Argentina on March 4, 2019." We think of people being hit by lightning.  Here's an article on peoples being hit by lightning. Roy Sullivan seems to be the official record-holder. He lived from 1912-1983 and was a park ranger in Virginia.  He was hit by lightning on seven occasions between 1942 and 1977.  In one strike it was reported that he saw a cloud, thought that it was following him, tried to run away, but was struck anyway.  That was in 1976, and his hair caught fire.  His seven strikes are described in Wikipedia HERE.  He's the current Guinness World Record holder, although one can find Melvin Roberts whose claim is having been hit 10 (or 11) times.  He looks in rough shape in the pictures.   I came upon an amazing Dahlia display in a Grimsby garden this week, and took the opportunity to photograph the flowers yesterday.  They are growing along a walkway to Centennial Park.

July 6 2021 - Summering

 

When we think of summering, what do we think of?  The people with cottages who spend their summers on a lake?  The birds that migrate to northern parts of the hemisphere? Summering isn"t used very much. There's a few summer camps for law students. A debut album in 2015. A failed Facebook sites with nothing posted since 2017.  Summering doesn't seem to be an accepted verb.  That might be because it is associated with the rich heading off to their summer homes on the beach or the ocean or wherever. What about some summer records?  What might we associate with summer?  The world's largest scoop of ice cream in 2014 weighing 1,365.31 kg.  Then there's the world's largest kick board which is 10 times the standard adult size, so pretty well took up the swimming pool. How long is the longest inflatable water slide?  1,975 feet.  Do you imagine joining 1,387 people to make sand angels?  Longest hot dogs, largest beach towel, longest bikini parade (China), longest barbecue, most people applying sunscreen... all activities associated with summer.   I wonder if there might be any records this year.  Other than heat wave  temperatures. Here's one:   Skills Ontario successfully launched the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ attempt event on May 5, 2021. We invited Ontarians in making history by helping us to break the record for Largest Online Video Chain of People Passing and Using a Screwdriver! Although we had a focus on women in the trades, this record attempt was open to anyone, any age across the province with a minimum goal of receiving 251 individual video submissions.     This montage is a combination of weathered wood and a white stone sculpture.  It looks like peas in pods to me.

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Oct 26 2020 - Halloween Guinness Time

 

The world's heaviest pumpkin happens every year in various countries, but that isn't about Halloween.  These pumpkins come in at over 2,500 pounds.  Here's one that comes in over 2,000 pounds and became a jack-o'-lantern: "The world's heaviest jack-o'-lantern was 2,077 pounds (approximately 942 kilograms), and the record was achieved on October 6, 2018 by the Cosumnes Community Services District at the 24th annual Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Festival in Elk Grove, California.  The massive gourd was grown by Josiah Brandt. Mike Brown, Deane Arnold, and Brandy Davis carved the lifelike face on the pumpkin." The fastest time to carve one tonne of pumpkins. "Stephen Clarke is the jack-o-lantern master. With a sharp knife in hand, he’s terrifyingly fast when it comes to pumpkin carving. On October 29th in 2008, he managed to carve an incredible one tonne of pumpkins in just 3 hours and 33 minutes while at Harrah’s Casino Resort, in Atlantic City, NJ (USA). " Most lit jack-o-lanterns displayed "A wonderful title to complete the round up, the most lit jack-o'-lanterns on display is 30,581 and was achieved by the City of Keene, New Hampshire. Keene was the original record holder in this category and has now broken it 8 times since the original attempt. The beautiful display of candle-lit pumpkins is the perfect sight to put anyone in the mood for All Hallows Eve; happy trick-or-treating!" I found a series of images with things made of pumpkins.  They look like lego life-size.   And our picture is a Sweet Autumn Clematis floral portrait.  Once they finish blooming the seeds are the pretty display.

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April 12 2020 - And It's About Eggs

What about eggs?  How did eggs get to be part of Easter? The Christian interpretation of the egg is that it represents Jesus' emergence from the tomb and resurrection. But eggs have been a symbol of new life since ancient times.  The ancient Egyptians, Persians, Phoenicians and Hindus all believed the world began with an enormous egg.  It is called the world egg, cosmic egg or mundane egg.   Some primordial being comes into existence by 'hatching' from the egg, sometimes lain on the primordial waters of the Earth.  The very earliest idea of 'egg-shaped cosmos' comes from Sanskrit scriptures. It continues through all ancient societies and into modern mythology and cosmology. With that long history of sacred celebration, what have people done with eggs that make the Guinness World Records stand up and pay attention?  Many irreverent things, all involving many people and many eggs. Largest egg structure - 48,230 eggs forming a pyramid. Largest East egg hunt - 501,000 eggs that were searched for by 9,753 children Largest Easter egg tree - 82,404 painted hen eggs Largest decorated egg - 49 ft 3 inches tall and decorated Most people dyeing eggs - 582 in Redmond, Washington Tallest chocolate Easter egg - 34 ft 1.05 inches I didn't colour eggs for Easter, but I did colour hosta leaves to create this  Nature's Impressions abstract.

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Hooyah! Mission accomplished

Yesterday we looked at the Guinness records about roofs.  Today, in celebration of the rescue of the cave-bound Thailand boys, we look at underground records.   We were there for that record too. It was August 2010 and 33 miners were trapped underground in Chile for 69 days.   But how about this record?  It would be on a lighter note (!): The deepest concert underground was at 1271 m (4,169 ft 11 in) below sea level at Pyhäsalmi Mine Oy, Pyhäjärvi, Finland and was performed by Agonizer (Finland) on 4 August 2007. My Google search goes off-course with a fascinating title: 20 Guinness World Record-breaking destinations to visit around the world.  1.  The largest railway station by number of platforms is New York City's Grand Central Terminal. 2. World's narrowest Street - Germany's Spreuerhofstrasse street. Located in Reutlingen, the thin street is only a foot wide at its narrowest point. ... World's Oldest Restaurant:  You can still dine at the world's oldest restaurant - Restaurante Botín - located in Madrid, Spain. Created in 1725, it still maintains its original 18th-century interiors and firewood oven today. Then Google results return to the topic in a bizarre headline:  "A man who has been buried alive in a pub garden for more than three months has broken the record for the length of time spent in a wooden box underground". Geoff Smith, 37, beat the European record of 101 days - set by his mother - at midnight on Monday. Could you make these stories up?  His mother did it when he was seven years old. "He did it at 37, and it has been his ambition to go and bury himself in a box". Back above ground, it is Lilycrest blooming time.

Who is that Mansard of the Roof?

How is it that the Mansard roof is named after Francois Mansard.  The word mansard has the French origin of mansard  and the English origin of "Mansard, Francois".  The earliest known example is credited to Pierre Lescot on part of the Louvre, built around 1550.  It was named after the person who popularized it in the early 17th century. A search on roof shapes will retrieve dozens of different ones.  And then there are ones that have no name to describe their unusual shape.  Here's the Lighter Side of Real Estate's 12 most unique roofs.  In comparison, the BBC article is about the world's most unusual rooftops - typically with gardens.  It is HERE.   I thought that perhaps the Guinness Book of Records might give us insight into roofs.  Here are a few records involving roofs: Longest cantilever roof Largest reinforced concrete cement flat roof span Longest roof span covered by a single metal corrugated sheet ... and then it moves on to other roof-related items: Most consecutive donut spins while standing on the roof of a car Fastest time to flip 10 cars on the roof Fastest time to break 1,000 roof tiles (male) (female) And then an array of records involving centipedes, slime, the loudest drummer... these might really be advertisements/news items. I refrained from reading the centipede one. Here's our pretty roof from the Niagara-on-the-Lake garden tour over the weekend. The house is located on the most prestigious place on the street facing the Lake with the view of the American historic fort.  However this gazebo seems like an unlikely lover's rendezvous:  it sits under a chestnut tree and it faces away from the lake.  Perhaps there is a story in this.

Age Old or Old Age

Do you remember the 96 year old man who ran the marathon to become the oldest person to finish a marathon?  That was in 2015. There are others in that age range who have completed physical activities that most people would not be able to contemplate let alone to complete.   I found list25.com with all the oldest people accomplishments - bungee jumping at 96, visiting the north pole at 89, sail around the world at 77, release a new music album at 92, oldest practicing pediatrician at 103, and oldest doctorate at 97, and so on.  I could not predict this one, though.  It came via a headline in December in the Toronto Star:  Notorious 86-year-old jewel thief strikes again in Atlanta, police say "Doris Payne, who was the subject of a 2013 documentary, faces another shoplifting charge, this time for slipping a $2,000 diamond necklace into her pocket. Payne told the AP she realized a simple distraction could make it easy to slip out with a fancy trinket in hand after a friendly store owner let her try on watches as a child and then forgot she had the jewelry on. Her career was born in her 20s when she got the idea that she could support herself by lifting jewelry." I wonder if she has applied to the Guinness Book of Records to be the oldest practicing thief, 86. Or does the Guinness Book 'recognize' achievers without requiring an application? I was in the Watering Can in St. Catharines this week, and took these photos of calla lilies.

All I Need to Know…About Birthdays

All I Need To Know

Now that we've found out how old Tortoises and Koi can live, we arrive at Dezi's birthday. I found a greeting card last week that gave me insight into everything I could ever need to know about Birthdays.  It is reproduced below Dezi's picture.  I couldn't resist looking up canine records on goggle.  The Guinness Book of Records popped up with interesting records:

Balancing glass of water 

Sweet Pea, an Australian shepherd/border collie, holds a couple of the strangest records on our list: most steps walked down by a dog facing forward while balancing a 5-ounce glass of water (10 steps) and fastest 100 meters walked by a dog with a can balanced on its head (2 minutes and 55 seconds).

Fastest skateboard ride 

Tillman, an English bulldog, traveled a 100-meter stretch of parking lot in just 19.68 seconds during the 2009 X Games in Los Angeles, winning him a world record and making him the Tony Hawk of the canine world.

Most dogs skipping rope 

Uchida Geinousha's dogs are the star attraction of the Super Wan Wan Circus in Japan. The 13 jumping dogs hold the world record for most dogs skipping rope.

Most tennis balls in mouth 

Dogs love to chase tennis balls, but perhaps no pup loves the chase more than Augie, an 8-year-old golden retriever who holds the world record for most tennis balls in the mouth at one time. Augie has successfully gathered and held five tennis balls in her mouth at the same time.

Ah, the life of a dog is indeed full!