Mar 17 2025 - Noises Off

 

Noise and sound are similar.  The big difference is that noise is considered unwanted or unpleasant sound.  This has come to my attention recently with the loud music in the gym at the Y.  Music is an important component of exercise - it sets the tempo with the beats per minute.  Kenny, the Total Fit instructor was telling me all the BPMs for the various types of exercise - cycle fit, muscle fit, cardio, etc.   It is the loudness factor that has my attention.  That's where the sound heads into noise territory for me. So I got a decibel app to find out if things were really loud or if I had hearing sensitivities. The conclusion is that the sound is loud in the gym.  The app says that over 80 decibels is concerning. It got me thinking about all the kinds of sound there are - and let's just look at the sounds that the human body makes.  I found a picture chart for some of them.  Is drool a sound?   The article covers well over 100 of these sorts of things - it is HERE.   We can make a lot of sounds, so there's likely a subsequent chart for which are unpleasant. If drool is a sound, I vote that drool is unpleasant.

And then the human voice can produce 500 different consonant sounds and 200 vowel sounds.  Take English, it uses only 24 consonant themes and 15 vowel phonemes.   I seem to think that we take most of this for granted.  We have geared our education towards the thinking end of things and mostly ignore sound except for music. The Guinness Book of Records has the longest continuous held note (more than 2 minutes), the loudest scream, the lowest vocal note by a female.The loudest burp (109 decibels) compares to the loudest snore, which is not quite as loud at 93 decibels.   There we are again, back to measuring the decibels of sounds.

This is a HDR rendering - you can see the Photomatix imprint - I was trialling it yesterday after deciding that I would like more HDR images.  Some time ago Photomatix got lost from my Photoshop plugins with an upgrade. I was using another software plugin to do HDR type images.  But that plug in is now gone too, so Photomatix needs to get reinstalled.   The result is a happy engineer at Strasburg showcasing the grime on his overalls!   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feb 17 2025 - The Snow Storm Finishes

 

The winter storm finished, and so has its place in all the news feeds. This file is no longer being updated is the news now.   The last update from the Toronto Star was 7:00pm with TTC Streecar delays after tracks were blocked with vehicles.  Which one?  Of course - the 504 King - it had no service near Roncesvalles at Queen Street West.  Even the TTC stopped subway service along the subway lines yesterday.   CTV has an update or two today - there's still no subway service between Bloor-Yonge and Eglinton stations.  With the storm in Niagara concluding yesterday, the weather news has turned to Niagara Falls with them assuring visitors that the streets will be plowed.  However, just popped up for Niagara Falls is a forecast of more flurries later today.  And as I look outside with the sun shinning, there is snow in the sky.  Looking at the radar, these are the "streamers" - lake-effect snow in narrow bands coming off of Lake Huron.  It is very pretty to look at.  Millie is  a bit confused with the snow in the back yard being higher than she is.   To keep us entertained, there's a story of a "Cake Bandit" - an opossum in Nebraska that has eaten an entire Costco cake and  had to be hospitalized.  I guess the owner had put it outside on the back porch. The opossum helped herself - I would assume the problem was that it was chocolate and being from Costco, was probably the size of a small children's swimming pool.   There are lots of Reddit entries on what are the dimensions of Costco's bar cakes and how much does a Costco chocolate mousse cake weigh - one answer claimed it was almost 5 pounds.  That's probably the size of the opossum. You can find out every massive Costco dessert, ranked by size.  That's at the Eat This, Not That site HERE.   You can even take a look at the Chocolate Mousse cake.  Enjoy.

Wish Gerry Happy Birthday today!   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Nov 25 2024 - National Day Today

 

What national day might it be?  What topic or product is worth a whole day's attention?  Could it be National Play Day with Dad?  Or National Parfait Day?  or Shopping Reminder Day?  Yes it is all of those.   That last one is getting a head start on your shopping list to ensure "stress-free celebrations and more time to enjoy the festive fun." One is supposed to shop before Black Friday.  That day has such backlash it has a competing national day titled:  Buy Nothing Day.  Shopping Reminder Day falls a month before Christmas - hence November 25th.  "Make a nice list or what you need, or what gifts that you need to buy for people.  If you are prepared for everything, call up a friend and remind them that it's Shopping Reminder Day."  Department of Redundancy Department is having a hand in this. There are dozens of jokes about Black Friday - about crowds, pushing, fighting and injuries.  There are no jokes about Buy Nothing Day.  I guess it is no joke.

Another train day today.

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Nov 24 2024 - Putin's Idle Hands

 

t occurred to me.  Who would be married to Vladimir Putin?  There are all kinds of headlines over a recent video about his hands.  I wondered about who would want to be married to him.   "Alina Kabaeva, 39, has been romantically linked to Putin, 69, for more than a decade and is thought to have had at least three children with him. In announcing sanctions against her on Tuesday, the Treasury Department said "Kabaeva has a close relationship to Putin" and that she was being targeted as part of an effort to "impose severe costs for those who support President Vladimir Putin's war." That article was in August 2022. Before that, Putin's wife was Lyudmila Aleksandrovna Ocheretnaya who served as the first spouse or first lady of Russia from 2000 to 2009 and 2012 to 2014. They divorced in 2014. The first lady position is listed as vacant. Back to Putin himself: It is his motionless hands during an eight minute speech that made all the headlines. The theory being tossed about is the hands were replaced in the video with AI.   There's worry in all the headline adjectives - rigid, glued and frozen.  That's because Putin's hands are "usually twitchy."  At one meeting his hands have turned purple as he "clutched his chair." It turns out that Putin's hands are a frequent and detailed news topic.  The experts look to his hands for clues of his intentions.   As to the frozen hands, here's one expert view: "Filmmaker Patrick Hölscher took the footage and zoomed in on the despots deathly unnatural hands. Up close, Putin’s tie moves as he talks, which only emphasizes how unnaturally still his hands are.  On top of this Hölscher highlights the blur and stretch on Putin’s right hand, which looks to be the result of a really rubbish editing job, and perhaps the heavy-handed handiwork of a photoshop touch up job." With all this talk, analysis, and opinion, it is no easy search to actually look at the video.  I don't think is is available.  So I screen-captured a closeup of his hands with the big red box around them.   What is this insert offering semaglutide for dirt cheap?  It is an on and off thing as I did a few screen-captures to test it.  More AI at work, I think. Another thing to distract us if we are curious.

Let's travel back to simple times.

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July 11 2024 - Calgary Stampede

 

It is the annual Calgary Stampede.  The front page of the Globe and Mail and an inside special highlight the festival.  Rodeos seem barbaric to me.  Action pictures of a horse appearing to struggle wildly in the air.  Seems to me they are in pain, so I look it up and find that pain is "a common culprit in bucking horses".  What I can point to is that over 100 animals have died at the Calgary Stampede over the years.  They suffer broken backs and necks, heart attacks and aneurysms.  So far this year three animals have died after being injured during chuckwagon races and the rodeo.  There are protests but they aren't the highlight - just barely covered, so it would appear that there isn't much sensibility of animal cruelty in rodeos.   I looked up one or two of the contests - here's tie-down roping - "The cowboy must quickly rope the calf, dismount on the run to reach it, turn it on its side, and tie three of its legs. Time is called when the cowboy throws his hands in the air, and the calf is immediately released."  This seems to remind me that I have a city upbringing. Of course I would be squeamish about an event that attacks young calves.   On the other hand, if 80% of Canadians live in urban centres, I might not be alone in my distaste for cowboy traditions. There are 1 million visitors a year - maybe they would still come for the music, art, carnival, and food and they can leave the rodeo behind.   Here's a picture of Gerry and a Cuban steam locomotive.  A much more enjoyable ride.

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Mar 2 2024 - Blue Zone Living

 

t isn't that there is more Blue Zone Living.  It is that there is more press and interest in Blue Zone Living.  The Town of Grimsby has finally joined with the region on "age-friendly"  initiatives and is having a conference next week.  One of the topics is Blue Zone Living.   This is the phrase for places where people are living longer and happier.  The headlines are things like:  "Want to live to 100?  Here are the 'Blue Zone' principles.... And the five original blue zones - the places with the healthiest, longest-living populations are Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. Does Canada have a blue zone.  I doubt if it will be one for long.  It is in Alberta, land of raucous politics and pugnacious premiers.  Airdrie, Alberta has been recognized as a "promising Blue Zone community".   There are 4 pillars of longevity for the "fountain of youth" of the Blue Zone: Pillar #1: Physical Activity. People who live long lives move their bodies regularly.  Pillar #2: Social Interconnectedness.  Pillar #3: Inner Sense of Purpose and Joy. Pillar #4: A Whole Food Plant-Based Diet.  These are not even surprising - they seem more considered common sense.  I shouldn't be so cynical about all this.  Do you know that a 2022 poll of 11,000 American adults revealed that almost 70% want to live to 100?  Can we trust Americans anymore?  Again, I am somewhat cynical on this desire to live past 100.  The odds in Canada of living to 100 are .023% - so that's a pretty big gap between what people want and what happens. Canada scores high in comparison to other countries.  If we lower that to age 90, then 5 out of 10 Canadians live that long. The expectation today is that 1 in 10 will live to 100 years of age. So maybe we just wait it out.  We don't need to move to a Blue Zone, or try to create a Blue Zone which would be very difficult in Grimsby where even the hospital name is a big political battle.   So my bet goes with just wait a while and the Blue Zone will get re-zoned to include you.

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Feb 17 2024 - More Animal Stories

 

What makes us think there is such a gap between humans and animals?  In the Odd news is a headline of raccoons stealing Florida woman's DoorDash tacos.  Well, they didn't steal them.  They ate them at her front door where she proceeded to video them and got herself a bit of celebrity on TikTok.  The same day has a story from Britain of an animal rescue officer responding to a report of a fox with an injured leg.  He located the fox and set up his phone for video along with the trap of food. A fox came over and ran off with the phone.  It then took a selfie after it set the phone down. The injured fox was later rescued and treated.   There are a number of straight-forward escaped zoo animals.  Don't prisoners try to escape from prison?   There is a story of a loyal dog coming down to a Dominican jail and pleading for  his owner to be freed.  "This is the first time I handed a prisoner over to a dog."  Perhaps this is the story worth showing the picture.  The toad lived in the shoe for the entire summer before going off to hibernate. Jabba returned the following spring to reclaim the home.  I'd give him wide berth - he's a very big toad.

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Nov 22 2023 - Black Friday Scams

 

I continue with Black Friday confusion.  Isn't it coming up this weekend?  The Toronto Sun news reads:  More than 2 million Canadian scammed on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  that story was yesterday.   The article goes on to say this has happened in the past.  So I guess we can add something new to the big deals and best prices of the year event.  There are more articles today on scamming on Black Friday.  From Consumer Affairs comes the headline:  Hold on, that Black Friday deal on a Rolex may be a scam.  This article found an increase of 66% of scamming urls in the US.  There are so many scams that they are listed by subject: Travel - an increase of 133% in things like fake Airbnb pages Walmart - get a deal on a QLED TV iCloud survey - Apple storage is full Spotify - newel problems HR department phishing - check the staff termination list Here are 9 scams to avoid according to Aura.com.  The 9 Latest Black Friday and Cyber Monday Scams You Need To Avoid: Fake or spoofed online stores  Social media ads for “too-good-to-be-true” deals Fake order confirmation emails Fraudulent delivery notifications Fake charity and fundraiser scams Gift card scams  Bogus coupon and voucher websites Non-delivery scams Sellers asking for non-traditional payment options Maybe Black Friday is going to become more famous for how much is stolen on that single day rather than how much is purchased.   It is this Friday, isn't it? Or is there a scan over when Black Friday actually occurs? Isn't this an incredible model!

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Aug 29 2023 - Whistle Stop Next

 

Our next whistle stop is railroad town, Denver. The Narrow Gauge Convention starts tomorrow and Gerry and model railroaders will gather for their yearly get-together.   We'll be away until September 7th, so no postings will happen until September 8th.   Trains inbound to a "whistle stop" station would signal their approach with a blast of the train's steam whistle.  It would alert the train depot attendant to their arrival. Train whistles had a succession of short sounds and longer sounds to form a language of commands.  The original purpose was to warn the engineers when a steam boiler was running out of water.   There's nothing like the sound of a steam whistle.  It seems to be beloved by breweries and cafes who have taken on its name.  It is outstanding to have no movies, online games or rappers show up for a search on steam whistle. It seems to have made its mark as a sound of the past. Here are happy scenes from the layouts of conventions past.

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Aug 22 2023 - Work from Home

 

I am still thinking about the $500,000 cubicle in Switzerland.   Couldn't they build a live/work community and the workers living space at the campus would allow them to work from home? Wouldn't that be perfect?  But somehow, employees still have to commute every day from their homes to the work place. Could this be a corporate behaviour where the gap between living and working realities must be "hammered in" every day?  Alternately, the executives want to have their palace and what the employees do in between time is their own worry. Let's take Apple's headquarters in Cupertino.  It has an estimate of around 12,000 employees at an estimated cost of $5 billion.  That's $417,000 per employee with 2,3000 square feet each. I return to the notion that this turns out to be a house a person.  That includes research and development facilities as well as office space, so perhaps reduce it a bit for real laboratory work that has to happen vs all those meetings and presentations, etc. What else is there in that 2,8 million square feet of space? A "Main Atrium", 1,000 seat underground auditorium, fitness and wellness centre (how would you get to it give you might be over a million square feet away), cafes and an organic farm, green roof, rainwater harvesting systems, visitor centre, the Steve Jobs Theatre.  They don't mention it, but there is a picture of the Aqua Park.  On site is a hair salon and dry cleaning service.  Many things for every day living, just not the living quarters. And the conclusion?  From its website: "Apple’s massive $5 billion “spaceship” headquarters is a truly impressive building, designed with innovation, sustainability, and employee well-being in mind. With its beautiful architecture, landscaping, and state-of-the-art facilities, it is a fitting home for one of the world’s most innovative companies." So it is a "home for the company" and not what makes up the company - its employees.  The questions on Quora and Redditt are about where Apple employees live while working at the Cupertino facility?  Here's some advice for a person who has just got a job at the Cupertino location:  "Buy a good home in Cupertino. The interest rates are low. You can get a decent house for $2M" We'll be in Denver next week for the railroad convention.  Here's an example of a layout in the competition from a few years ago.

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Aug 17 2023 - Words from Letters and Numers

 

One of those "brain is amazing" thoughts is how we can interpret words where letters are replaced with numbers and make sense out of them.  A wonderful article from turnerink.co.uk written in 2012 covers this topic with humour.  For example:   "Aoccdrnig to rscheearch, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. So how about if the letters are replaced with numbers? 7H15 M3554G3 53RV35 7O PR0V3 H0W 0UR M1ND5 C4N D0 4M4Z1NG 7H1NG5! 1MPR3551V3 7H1NG5! 1N 7H3 B3G1NN1NG 17 WA5 H4RD BU7 N0W, 0N 7H15 LIN3 Y0UR M1ND 1S R34D1NG 17 4U70M471C4LLY W17H 0U7 3V3N 7H1NK1NG 4B0U7 17, B3 PROUD! 0NLY C3R741N P30PL3 C4N R3AD 7H15." Equally fun are the comments on the post at the end HERE.   And today's picture?  Randomly selected from the many train pictures.

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Aug11 2023 - Lucky Seven

 

There’s an ad on the radio for a diamond ring with seven stones  "Nothing says you’re super lucky to have her like a 70770 Anniversary Band from Spence. It’s unconditional love, by way of seven lucky Artisan Created Diamonds that wrap around the top of her finger, sparkling ever-so-brilliantly.” It doesn’t seem to be at other jewellers’ sites. But it got my attention with all the sevens in the style name.   I wonder these things: Is 77 luckier than 7?  I find out there is the 77 angel number. A sign of intense spiritual growth. What about 777?  Banknotes with a erial number containing 777 tend to be valued by collectors and numismatists - that from Wikipedia.  In the bible it represents the threefold perfection of the Trinity.   When we get to 7777 - then things start up:  law of attraction, what does 7777 mean in the bible, 77777 meaning in money…so many questions about lucky. So let’s head to the bible:  the meaning of multiple number sevens such as 777 and 7777 is derived from it being a reinforcement of perfection and God’s unmistakable hand in the affairs of man. "Seven Levitical priests, on the seventh day they and others circled Jericho, blew their seven trumpets each of the seven times (777) they journeyed around the city (Joshua 6:4, 15 - 16). When the seventh circuit ended, the people shouted at Jericho's wall and it miraculously came tumbling down!”  There are a number of stories in this vein.  They seem complicated and ritualistic to me in the current social environment.  Did you know that the father of Noah, Lamech,  lived 777 years? It is time for a visit to Dolores.

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June 27 2023 - Olivia Chow vs 101 candidates

 

From the last day of school to the first day of Toronto's new mayor.  What an excellent headline this morning.  She's the first progressive mayor since David Miller.  She's the first Chinese-Canadian mayor and the third female mayor.  Her presence brings back memories of Jack Layton, a much-beloved NDP politician who died from cancer in 2011.  That was a significant loss to the political scene.  Jack Layton's predecessors were politicians and activities - his great-granduncle William Steeves was a Father of Confederation.  And the family business was Layton Bros. Pianos. That seems a good combination.  Olivia Chow was born in British Hong Kong and emigrated with her parents in 1970. While her parents were schoolteachers and a school superintendent in Hong Kong, in Canada they worked at odd jobs. She was an artist and sculptor in her early career.  She moved into politics in 1986 motivated by indigents of harassment and sexual discrimination. The voting was much higher for this election than the last one. It was about 40 percent of the eligible votes vs 29 percent in the fall election.   Perhaps there was more at stake this time - rejuvenation was needed rather than conservatism.  She promises affordable housing, improved transit,  that Gardiner Expressway revamp at ground level, and says there will be modest increased taxes to pay for the initiatives.  This is different than John Tory's conservative keep taxes low and reduce services strategy. Who is the biggest detractor of Chow?  Doug Ford. What a quote:  "While we're not always going to agree on everything..."   I wonder if there is something or anything to agree on - his initiatives include building houses on the Greenbelt and building a highway across the Greenbelt in Toronto's northern suburbs that will cost billions.   It seems like there will be contention between Ford's highways and Chow's transit plans.   That makes me think off our transit from more than a century ago - from before the dominance of the automobile.   The rail yard is full of activity on this layout.     Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca