May 3 2023 - Tomorrow's The Force Day!

 

Could we guess there would be an encyclopedia for Star Wars?  The Wookipedia tells us about the origin of the famous expression "May the Force be with us." That was in 1977.  George Lucas wrote this as "A film for a generation growing up without fairy tales." Even though it was Episode IV a New Hope it was the first movie in the series.  I guess they decided that Star Wars was a better title.   This quote is listed as #8 of the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.  Here they are - the top 8 1. "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn." Gone with the Wind (1939) 2. "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." The Godfather (1972) 3. "You don't understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could've been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am." On the Waterfront (1954) 4. "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." The Wizard of Oz (1939) 5. "Here's looking at you, kid." Casablanca (1942) 7. "All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up." Sunset Blvd. (1950) 8. "May the Force be with you." Star Wars (1977) The Wookipedia has this to say about the expression:  "The final page of The Adventures of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight features the phrase "May the force be with you!" against a backdrop of stars, echoing the final lines of the story: "Luke Skywalker fulfilled his destiny. He became a Jedi Knight and saved the galaxy. More important, he saved his father and found his family. The Force was with him." Which flowers make me think of stars?  Clematis.  Here's the white Autumn Clematis.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Feb 28 2023 - Weathering Spring

 

We move into meteorological spring tomorrow.  I go with the weather version when it suits me.  For example I think winter comes December 21st. But I definitely go with spring on March 1st. Being in the know seems to be important.  What about this?  Motorcyclists can soon be safe thanks to airbag jeans.  The picture is hilarious - it looks like someone in a fat suit.  And I guess that's what it is.   "The garment is made from the strongest denim on the planet. Even more unique are the airbags that activate via small CO2 cartridges whenever the rider falls from their bike. The trigger mechanism is a tether connecting the jeans to the motorcycle. When the equivalent of a road accident occurs, the tether creates a puncture in the cartridges that inflates the airbags. If the rider is thrown from the bike, a protective air cushion is instantly deployed. Afterward, the CO2 cartridges are replaceable. While the airbag handles the impact forces, the single-layer denim fabric called ‘Armalith’ handles the abrasion forces, according to officials from the Swedish company Airbag Inside." The story is here in the good news network. The product is airbag jeans.   This is a display that astonishes one.  This is only one view of the orchid.  Masses of these beautiful trailing flowers.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 26 2022 - Bizarre Wedding Dresses

 

One of those accumulations of crazy pictures on a theme got my attention - it was bizarre wedding dresses.  Supposedly a wedding is a ceremony where two people are "united in marriage".  And wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries and social classes. There are ideas on who does what, on how to plan a wedding, on the wedding ceremony, etiquette, and all sorts of things.  The rule of thumb from slice.ca is that the average wedding  costs around $200 a person/guest.  The proposed average cost is given at $40,000 to $50,000. The wedding planner costs on average $3,500. The venue average is $22,500.  The wedding cake is an average of $600. The average cost is $2,000.  Do you know what the average cost is of the DJ - that's that guy that plays music so loud that you can't talk to the person next to you at the dinner - $1,750.  Stunning! Choosing a wedding dress might be the central moment for the bride.  So we want insight into hundreds of wedding dresses found on Instagram that are described with such names as: Coccoon-inspired wedding gown Pamela Anderson's bikini wedding dress A real cake for a wedding gown Pregnant bride Nothing left to chance Balloon wedding dress Bride or stripper? Mama June's hot mess Queen of exaggeration Cream puffs There are more on Pinterest HERE.  Such themes are: Top 5 sluttiest wedding dresses, Worst of all time - nearly naked, Most outrageous... Ugliest... Shocking... Bizarre...Crazy It seems to be Imgur that has captured the moment.  Focsing on social gossip is their skill.  HERE are a few.  I rather enjoyed some of the Priceless Wedding Photos with surprise cats, dogs, and squirrels.  That's here. Flowers that look like wedding dresses appeal to me. This is a Cosmos.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

July 20 2022 - Peaches

 

What is the most popular fruit?  Is it bananas?  Actually it is tomatoes - but we don't treat them as fruit.  For what we consider fruit, it is in fact bananas.  But would we guess watermelon in the number 3 spot and apples number 4 after that?  Then we have oranges, grapes, mango and guava, pineapple, peaches, pears, pumpkin, papaya, plums, dates and in 15th spot strawberries.   The consumption of bananas is 116,780, 000 tons vs strawberries at only 8,885 tons.  Bananas are such a countable thing - over 100 billion bananas are consumed a year - that's 75% of the annual tropical fruit trade.  Our current fruit is peaches - they are ripe in Niagara.  The earliest ones are not freestone.  I wonder what variety I bought yesterday - the popular ones are listed as fantasia, harblaze, garnet beauty, harrow diamond, and red haven.  There are fifteen different varieties grown in Niagara.   But you don't find orchards with the names of varieties at the rows - not like grapes where the variety is nicely displayed. With all these varieties of peaches we don't seem to purchase by  cultivar - not like apples.  The pint, quart and 4-quart baskets all say "peaches."  Maybe there isn't a lot of taste difference between the varieties.  You can compare the peach picking spots in Niagara.  and some of them list their varieties.  To pick your own peaches today comes with an entrance fee of $4 per person - I guess that's the "selfie-fee".  I go to the fruit stands in my area - they are all listed in this article on Niagara's fruit stands HERE.  It is nice to see them showcased and appreciated. Today's floral abstract is a Gerbera.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblog.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Facebook Twitter Website Email Share Tweet Forward

Sep 24 2020 - Meet My Siblings - 600 or so of them

 

This is the story of 600 people, and the number could possibly be higher.  They have the same father.  They call themselves the world's biggest 'family.' How could that have happened?  It happened at a fertility clinic in London, England during the Second World War.  Dr. Mary Barton's husband Bertold Wiesner turns out to be the major donor at the time - between the mid-40s up to the late 1960s.  This was a time when artificial insemination was condemned as adultery and was considered criminal. The fertility clinic's work was secretive.  None of the children were ever told of the procedure that helped them come about.  What made it possible for all these siblings to discover each other?  Ancestry.com and other DNA analysis services.  When submitting the DNA test, one can check a box that allows people who discovered they are related to a person to contact them.  There's a spike each year - typically after Christmas gift tests - from people who share DNA. Wiesner was an Asheknazi Jew and this heritage showed up in the DNA tests of people with no known ancestors to match this background.  This was a distinctive characteristic that has allowed the story to unfold. Barry Stevens, from Toronto, is one of these half-siblings.  That he is a filmmaker is key - he has created a documentary that brings this story to the public.  Here's the CBC Docs POV HERE.  Barry finds out that quite a few are filmmakers or writers, and they share verbosity and a sense of humour.  He is now a member of the Donor Conceived Alliance of Canada, arguing that nobody has the right to deliberately withhold a citizen's significant personal information.  Unlike his story, there are dangers in anonymity of donors, inheriting diseases kept secret by donors, finding out a biological father was a criminal, etc.  Watch the World's Biggest Family HERE.   Today's flower is Sweet Autumn Clematis.  This is a rampant climber - I let it climb the Redbud tree out front.  It is not like other clematis which can be delicate and difficult. Its fragrance fills the air.  This is a perfect September flower - it distracts us from the season ahead.

Read past POTDs at my Blog: http://blog.marilyncornwell.com Purchase at: FAA - marilyncornwellart.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

April 25 2020 - Message in the Sky?

Skywriting could return to the UK for the first time in 60 years.  What did they write in the sky?  WASH HANDS.  Skywriting was banned there in 1960 due to safety concerns. I can't remember seeing any skywriting in my adult years.  However, there are a number of companies who do this:  Aeogram says they are Canada's leader in aerial advertising since 1984.  Another is Flysigns Aerial Advertising operating in Toronto for more than 20 years. Pricing is by square meter of the billboard.  There's even something called sky typing. What is there to learn about this interesting activity? Most sources attribute the development of skywriting (1922) to John C. Savage, an Englishman. In that year, Captain Cyril Turner wrote “Daily Mail” over England and “Hello USA” over New York. The American Tobacco Co. then picked up the technique for their Lucky Strike cigarettes. A letter can be as high as one mile and take 60-90 seconds to create. A message can stretch up to fifteen miles. The best conditions of course are few clouds, little or no wind, and cooler temperatures. Then the letters may be seen for 30 miles in any direction and can last 20 minutes. Writing occurs usually at altitudes from 7,000-17,000 ft. The paraffin oil vaporizes at 1500° in the heat of the plane’s exhaust and is environmentally safe. The skywriting that appeared in the movie, “Wizard of Oz,” was done by special effects in a tank with an oil and water mixture. One company in New York “writes” more than 50 marriage proposals a year in the sky.   I was at the Orchid Show in February at the Royal Botanical Gardens this year.  The poor lighting conditions and crowdedness of the plants and people are always challenges. This isn't like visiting Longwood Gardens and being able to photograph at one's own pace.  Somehow there always is a lovely shot to capture amidst the excitement and appreciation of this wonderfully diverse flower.

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

April 17 2020 - Make My Cake Green Tea

My interest in coffee mugs started with wondering about tea cups and when saucers came about. Tea cup saucers turned out to be dull yesterday.  Today I was wondering about  buildings and their windows.  But what do I retrieve? A picture of the beautiful tea cafe  at the Choui Fong Plantation. The Tea Cafe building was designed by IDIN Architects and won the American Architecture Prize of 2017. This is located in northern Thailand near the Myanmar and Laos borders in Chiang Rai.  Choui Fong Tea is the largest producer of tea in Thailand growing several distinctive types of tea such as Assum, Green, Oolong and Black Tea in the highlands at an altitude of around 1,200 meters above sea level and in a plantation area of over 1,000 rai.  One acre = 2.529 rai. It turns out that land measurement in Thailand does not follow Imperial or the Metric systems.  Their website has pictures of the Tea Plantations HERE.  The facebook page has the tea cafe as the banner picture - very beautiful. The pictures of their cakes match the setting. New York style honey lemon cheesecake with locally produced organic honeycomb decorating the top.  Green Tea Tiramisu:  rich taste, light, super fluffy and melt in your mouth. Mango cheese cake, Macademia cheese cake.   They, like us, are impacted by COVID-19:  Due to the current epidemic of "Kowitt-19" virus Chachui Fong Farm is postpone the announcement of the photo contest. From April 1, 2563 postponed to December 15, 2563 or until change. Those who are interested in sending photos to the contest, you can continue to send photos to join the contest. Here are pictures of the tea cafe from IDIN Architects.        A Gourmet Magazine in their area had a beautiful article  HERE in September 2017.   What a lovely armchair tour - there's something about the rolling hills and curved rows of tea plants that is soothing.  Gerbera flowers from last year's greenhouse tour are our photo subjects of the day.

While the weather is always a subject of conversation, our recent weather has demanded widespread attention.  Our daily average in April is between 8 - 12 degrees celsius.  That's in the 40's - 50's fahrenheit.  Today, though, we have a high of 4 degrees. There's  promise that next week will be in the range of the averages.   The 'potentially historic' storm for Southern Ontario is moving on slowly. There were power outages and hundreds of accidents. Ice fell from the CN Tower causing damage to the Roger Centre roof.  Most institutions were closed. That was the weekend. Here we are on Tuesday, and we're nearing the end of the bad weather. Toronto's historic storm was in 1999 with 39 and then 27 cm of snow.  The army was called in to help clear the roads. The rest of the country was amused.  That may be because in comparison in 1999 Tahtsa Lake, B.C. set the record for the largest one-day snowfall with 145 cm falling within a 24-hour period.  It delivered more snow than Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg see annually. Niagara's greatest blizzard was in 1977. There was a combination of 60 cm, with gusts of winds up to 80 km/hr.  In some cases drifts covered over houses. There was a state of emergency in Ontario, and New York was declared a federal disaster area.   What should you do in bad weather? Here are today's suggestions from wise bread.com... 1. Plan your summer vacation 2. Make an awesome breakfast 3. Nap 4. Make Candy 5. Take an online class or tutorial 6. redecorate 7. Fireside camp out 8. Pajama day in bed 9. Take a luxurious bath 10. Shop your closet 11. Indoor fort 12. Check out some good blogs 13. Afternoon tea 14. Catch up with family and friends Our picture today is the centre of a white Ranunculus at Sunshine Express Garden Centre.

Classes Start

"Welcome back students - classes start."   The first day of school is a Wikipedia entry that traverses the world - starting with the A's - The Americas:  "A common pattern in North America and Europe is for school to begin in September, while in the southern hemisphere mid January to late February is common, with a few countries near the equator having a September start. It is most common in Canada, and parts of the US to start school the day after Labor Day". And as for Education in Canada - here are the statistics: "Education being a provincial responsibility, there is no Canadian national standard. In Canada the school year for elementary and high school consists of 178 to 200 days, depending on jurisdiction, but several days may be deducted from this total for professional development and administrative duties, resulting in approximately 187 teaching days per year for most jurisdictions. Elementary students receive approximately 950 hours of instruction and secondary students receive approximately 1000 hours per year". What about a bit of humour with the statistics: Q -What food do math teachers eat? A -Square meals! Q -How do you get straight A’s? A -By using a ruler! Q -What kind of school do you go to if you're: a surfer? Boarding school a big giant? High school King Arthur? Knight school an ice cream man? Sundae school We're looking at t a wonderful planting at the Denver Botanical Garden - in the background is Eupatorium capillifolium 'Elegant Feathers' - a new plant for me.  We know the Eupatorium native species here - Joe Pyeweed - an attractor of Monarch butterflies. plant. This would be a lovely display for the Night Garden - dreamy pale yellow and white flowers.