Dec 4 2024 - Carol of the Bells

 

Our choir songs are overwhelmingly Christian carols/hymns or mid-twentieth century songs.  And then there's the Solstice Song - Carol of the Bells.   There are 10,000 songs on the subject of Christmas.  And seasonal songs like Jingle Bells aren't considered Christmas songs.   When it comes to religious songs, it seems to me that the Manger is the focal point.    Christian Christmas songs are known as hymns - "song of praise".  The "Hymnal" is organized by season.  One has to look through an index at the back to find out which page a song is on.  Lyrics are formal and paraphrase Scripture or quote the Bible.    In the wider context, Christmas songs have more diverse themes.  Here's someone who did some analysis of Christmas songs: "After examining the top 78 holiday songs on Spotify, Bennett found the most common themes included: Home (family, gifts under the tree), Love (finding that special someone at Christmas), Lost love (feeling lonely at Christmas), Parties (dancing, mistletoe), Santa (and his reindeer), Snow (snowmen, sleighs, cold winters), Religion (Nativity story), and Peace on Earth."  Quite the array for Christmas.  I guess that in part accounts for why there are so many concerts at this time of year. Lots to choose from. A person can stay at home:  turn on the perpetual fire burning in the fireplace television station/youtube video and the perpetual Christmas music radio station.  This display of wreaths and urns at the Watering Can is from a few years ago.  This year, the volume is astonishing.

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June 19 2024 - Who has interviewed 30,000 people

 

Jordan Mazer has a headline that he's interviewed 30,000 people.  Another article, by William Vanderbloemen, CEO of an executive search firm, says that he has interviewed 30,000 candidates in the last 15 years. That's a person an hour for 8 hours a day for 250 days a year for 15 years. Another writer on Pinterest says the same number - 30,000 interviews.  What is it about this number for job interviews?  You won't find anyone interviewing 40,000 people.  You will find instructions on how to interview 20,000 people a year.  That would be only 4 people a day.  Seems almost achievable, doesn't it.  (And what about the headline below that where Conan O'Brien and Wilt Chamberlain discuss the rumour that he's slept with 20,000 women)  30,000 seems to be a nice round number - here are more occasions of 30,000 people: Japanese Chefs feed 30,000 people Incredible crowd of 30,000 people gather China has buildings that house 30,00o people  Up to 30,000 people now displaced ... ordered to evacuate... 30,000 shock incidents per year that are non-fatal 30,000 people with cystic fibrosis  More than 30,000 newcomers expected to settle in... These wreaths have withered and departed quite a while ago - they were very cute on the greenhouse doors.

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Nov 13 2023 - Weirdest Potato Chips

 

In the Bing News feed - with all its ads and sponsored content is weirdest potato chip flavours.  So I go off to google to look this up. Dill pickle is not weird - it is just more salt and vinegar.  Cinnamon and sugar potato crisps from Pringle - that's weird.  Walkers BBQ pulled pork crisps - again that's more of the same BBQ and pork crisps are well-known in the US. This is now called pulled pork chips.  Maybe because it is in Britan and not the US. Utz put out "The crab chip" - yes that's weird.  They promise Chesapeake Bay crab seasoning. What is that?  "In a small mixing bowl, stir together salt, cayenne, celery seed, paprika, mustard, black pepper, bay leaf, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and cinnamon until well-combined."  That looks like a combination of BBQ and cinnamon and sugar potato chips.  That's weird. Walkers roast chicken crisps - protein flavoured is the highlight.  I suggest an even more fatty experience - think chicken fat plus frying fat.  It seems that  the flame grilled steak chips would be similar with the added touch of that grilled taste.  Not so weird to me as the intensely sweet and salty. What about Pringles sloppy joe's - wouldn't that be more of a BBQ variation combined with onions and garlic. "A sloppy joe seasoning packet is just a combination of spices like chili powder, paprika, dry mustard, garlic powder, and minced onion." Walkers prawn cocktail - I suggest we go back to the crab chip and we'll see that seasoning repeated here - maybe cocktail sauce has more vinegar.  Head down to Kettle brand maple bacon potato chips.  Now we're onto something that might be considered Canadian.  The chips would go as the first course, followed by bacon maple butter tarts as the dessert.  A full meal.   That one seems to be the ultimate.  The full range of chips is HERE  And what comes to mind is that there wasn't a single sweet potato variation.  Continue the search, and you will find things like dark chocolate sweet potato chips.   Here are sweet potatoes at Vineland Research Station.  This is from a few years ago as they showed off their recent hyrbrids.

Maybe my wreaths are a bit like these strange potato chips.  It is "anything goes"  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Nov 12 2023 - Deck the Hallmark

 

Deck the Hallmark! Do you know that the Hallmark movie season actually starts in January.   And in 2023 there were three new installments of the Wedding Veil trilogy on Hallmark Channel and an all-new Hallmark Movies & Mysteries franchise, Family History Mysteries: Buried Past. The movies are available live and on demand on Peacock.  The Christmas movies started streaming November 9th and continue being released throughout November.   And in case you need some prompting:  Hallmark's movies are perfect for "snuggling up with loved ones" and "always tug on the heartstrings." Mystery on Mistletoe Lane New to town, Heidi Wicks and her kids discover a Christmas mystery in their historic home. Local handyman and historian David helps along the way, finding his own surprising connection. Everything Christmas Lori Jo's love for Christmas takes her on a road trip to Yuletide Springs, where Christmas is celebrated year-round, to participate in a longstanding town tradition to honor her late grandmother. Christmas Island When a snowstorm diverts Kate's first private flight en route to Switzerland to Christmas Island, she must team up with an air traffic controller to secure her dream job as the family's pilot. There seem to be many more...lots to keep one busy between now and Christmas, and even past Christmas.  The coverage is HERE.  There is even one listed named A Biltmore Christmas.  It follows Lucy as she's hired to write the script for a remake of a holiday movie.  She joins a tour of the grounds and when she knows an hourglass over, she find herself transported back in time to 1946.

Here's a wreath for the Hallmark moment - Cozy Sweater Weather is its name.  It is followed by Single Red Winter Magnolia.  They both sound like Hallmark Romance wreaths.  What do you think? Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

June 11 2023 - Choirs

 

How many choirs are there around the world?  One estimate said there are 100,000 singers in amateur choirs.  The Guinness Book of Records says that the largest choir consisted of 121,440 people in India in 2011.  What did that choir sing?  "In unison for over 5 minutes." In terms of people in choirs, there are articles about the top 100 to 1,000 top choirs - with world rankings.   In Canada one survey found 861 choral organizations representing 1,500 choirs and 60,000 members. The Canadian survey says that 3,5 million Canadians sang in a choir in 2016 - 10% of the population.  One of the comparisons made in the Survey HERE is that there are 50% more adult Canadians who sing in a choir than hockey players in Canada. Here's one of those old-fashioned insane asylum jokes It was visitor's day at the insane asylum and all the inmates were standing in the courtyard and singing "Ave Maria." They were singing it beautifully. But oddly, each of them was holding a red apple in one hand and tapping it rhythmically with a pencil.  A visitor listened in wonder to the performance and then approached the conductor.  "I am a retired choir director," he said. "This is one of the best choirs I have ever heard."  "Yes, I'm very proud of them," said the conductor.  "You should take them on tour," said the visitor, "what are they called?"  "Surely that's obvious," replied the conductor. "They're the Moron Tapanapple Choir." A wreath and its variations today. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Apr 20 2023 - Pandemic Done

 

We haven't been thinking about COVID lately.  We see a few masks on people.  The Canadian website has the latest status as of April 17 2023, and there are still thousands - just over 3,000 - people in hospitals and over a hundred in ICU.  There isn't a number given for weekly deaths - only a weekly change in deaths at 57.  I can't tell you want that means.  But it is clear there are still deaths every week from COVID. But it isn't "news" anymore.  CNN stopped updating its tracker on March 20, 2023.  Other sites stopped collecting on March 10, 2023 when data sources were no longer reporting, So is it over?  "Many pandemics eventually become endemic, meaning the infection is still present in a region or population but its behavior is predictable and the numbers of cases and deaths no longer spike. Learning to live with a virus is a key feature of an endemic virus; think flu or even the common cold. But it’s probably true that the transition from pandemic to endemic can only be recognized after it happens." There will be no declaration that the pandemic is over, and the declaration that it has moved on to endemic status will be a hind-mirror moment.  Don't we wonder when that might be.   I am making wreaths in support of Nelles Manor Museum.  It is the oldest heritage house between Kingston and Niagara -on-the-Lake.  I've sold a few already, so hope we might reach the stretch goal of $1,000.  The wreaths are priced in the range of $60 to $80 each, a fabulous price, and no tax!  If you are within driving range, and would consider buying a wreath, check out the Pinterest wreath page HERE.  Or search for Marilyn Cornwell Pinterest Wreaths and they will pop up.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Mar 3 2022 - Waste in Nature

 

Is waste a natural part of the ecosystem?  It says there is no waste in nature.  Plants grow in soil, animals eat plants, dung replenishes soil.  The sense of "garbage" does not exist in nature.   There are some interesting examples of this cyclical system.   Dead wood-eating beetles are considered the insect world's best decomposers. Along with lichens, mushrooms, sow bugs and earthworms, these insects spend their time turning dead plants and animals back into usable nutrients.  Birds are considered nature's greatest recyclers.  The Bowerbird from New Guinea and Australia constructs elaborate "bowers" consisting of colourful human trash.  Hermit crabs salvage shells abandoned by other sea life, usually from sea snails.  They've used glass bottles and cans. If you have a pet hermit crab, you can get artificial shells for them. Orb-web spiers decorate their webs with debris such as leaves and twigs. They often make a new web each day. And dung beetles live to collect and repurpose poop.  They build their homes out of feces, they eat feces, and lay their eggs in it.  They roll excrement into balls and offer it to a female.  Then they happily roll it away together... into the sunset. The Octopus builds shelters out of discarded debris - from cracked coconut shells, to sea shells, glass jars, and other containers.  And what is special about monarch butterflies? Monarch caterpillars eat their old homes once they've exited. Here's our latest Monarch Wreath - it has already gone to a new home.

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Sep 17 2021 - School Buses

 

The school bus is everywhere I go in Niagara.  I don't remember them in St. Catharines when I went to school.  I assume that's because there were schools located within a few miles of each other.  As an urban community, that distance of walking to school was normal, expected and the only option. That's my guess.  Statistics confirm this. These are US statistics from the Safety Administration: In 1969, 48 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school (The National Center for Safe Routes to School, 2011). In 2009, 13 percent of children 5 to 14 years of age usually walked or bicycled to school (National Center, 2011). In 1969, 41 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school; 89 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school  In 2009, 31 percent of children in grades K–8 lived within one mile of school; 35 percent of these children usually walked or bicycled to school "The circumstances that have led to a decline in walking and bicycling to school did not happen overnight and have created a self-perpetuating cycle. As motor vehicle traffic increases, parents become more convinced that it is unsafe for their children to walk or bicycle to school. They begin driving them to school, thereby adding even more traffic to the road and sustaining the cycle. " What I notice is that school buses pick children up all over the neighbourhood and all over the streets everywhere.  The bus in my neighbourhood stops at the corner of my street and then the very next street.  School buses operate as parent and chauffeur substitutes.  With all those buses, things are complicated now - there are 18,000 school buses in Ontario.   There are equally complicated activities to return people to having their children walk to school.  Things like the Walking School Bus - you can imagine it means walking to school in groups under adult supervision using prescribed protocols. I realize that school busing alone tells us how much effort there will be to reduce our carbon footprint and start to address climate change.  We depend on our complicated social order. Today I am pitching the Fantasy of Trees wreaths for those of you who are fairly close by for pick up or delivery.  You can purchase one of the wreaths. I am partial to the Monarch Butterflies Wreath - it is a lovely gift.  Let me know if you might be interested.

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Nov 29 2020 - Art that is smaller than a box

 

Is there art that is smaller than artist Curtis Talwst Santiago's works? I would guess there is.  These items come from popular mechanics HERE. Trust by Hurwitz is the smallest artwork to be created by a human: it measures 80 x 100 x 20 microns (a micron is 0.00004 inches). Like Willard Wigan, Trust is also placed in the eye of a needle, or even on a single strand of hair. May 5, 2016 Mini Mailbox made of pencil graphite by Dalton Ghetti This Brazilian artist makes extraordinary work with surprisingly ordinary tools: A razor blade, a sewing needle and a sculpting knife. But don't except to duplicate Ghetti's skill overnight, ambitious DIYers. Some of his microscopic pieces required months or even years to finish. If you're keen to spend that much time squinting at a pencil, though, and you also possess unnaturally steady hands and an unlimited supply of Sanford no. 2's, you certainly could give it a try. Lloyd's of London on the head of a pin by Williard Wigan This model of the Lloyd's of London building is actually smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Wigan carves his pieces under a microscope, using grains of sand as building material and fibers, spiderwebs and hairs as tools. However, because the tiniest of vibrations would destroy a sculpture, Wigan works in between his heartbeats while holding his breath—lest he accidentally inhale his own work. The World's Smallest Guitar By Dustin Carr  Carr, a doctoral student at Cornell University, built this guitar that is 10 micrometers long, with strings that measure 50 nanometers wide. (A micrometer is one-millionth of a meter; a nanometer is one-billionth.) The guitar could be played, but not heard. It is so small it emits a frequency inaudible to the human ear or any modern recording device. This leaves us to find the tiniest Christmas tree so we can put these presents under it.  And don't forget to include the world's smallest Christmas card at 15x20 micrometers.  Our pictures today show our contribution to small - the little miniatures on the wreaths made for the Fantasy of Trees.  That's my smallest Christmas tree.

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Feb 26 - The Notional News about Celine Dion

That's a great subject line - the notional news.  Of course, it retrieves national news, hoping to bring in the non-speller searchers. This seems like a great name for a parody website. Surprisingly there isn't current and active a website, facebook account or recent twitter account that has this name.  There's an account from 2006 in New Zealand that's a parody party. The actual retrieval that got my attention was the notional news from The Times of India.  Yes, notional is in its headline: Celine Dion drops untold bombshell (small letters: ad).   (ET, Wednesday, February 26, 2020) - Celine, the most popular Canadian singer, has decided to retire. Today, Celine tells us about the scenes and why she made this shocking decision. The project Celine is supposedly referring to is the "weight loss product called BioLogik Keto Forcera. The celebrity has spent the last two years developing a range of very powerful and effective weight loss products that she believes are the solution for those who do not want to spend time at the gym." Can Celine Dion be promoting a diet pill? This is a loose linkage to her  prominence in the news for significant weight loss showing painful pictures of her from the Fall looking emaciated, wearing strange high fashion clothes that accent her thinness.  These pictures are always popping up. They are weird and scary so grab one's attention. There must be a reputable source to tell me about her weight loss. It would be Woman's Day - it says she attributed her trimmer figure to her new interest in ballet. That was September 2019.  She also said this in a TV interview.  and it has been repeated consistently -  ballet has resulted in her "trimmer body." The internet is still a free for all, and using a celebrity's name can bring viewers that wouldn't come to one's site.  I find more news articles that link Celine Dion's name with a keto product for weight loss - but there is no content on her.  It is News-ontime with a Fox News Channel logo. It says that two sisters Anna and Samantha Martin have a keto weight loss product and it was backed by Shark Tank Judges.  This turns out to be a  website where one can't access Fox News and one keeps getting redirected to the site with its crazy before and after pictures of 61 days of dieting with the pill.  So many scams and tricks at one's fingertips on the internet. I was able to easily find Dion's endorsements, charities and causes - they are listed at celebrityendorsers.com.  I realize that this is a medium irritation - a diet pill scam.  Remember the pornography websites that take celebrity heads and photoshop them on nude bodies?  Yikes. And our images today?  Yes - these might be scary too.  They are 2 of the Christmas wreaths completed for the 2020 Fantasy of Trees.  We've completed 12 so far - with 8 to go. This is a perfect time to make them while the snow and cold weather keep one out of the garden.  We might need to get these done quickly - the snow drops were blooming yesterday along with Witch hazel.  Looks like we may have an early spring - I should go look for that singular early crocus that the squirrels planted in front of the little garden shed a few years ago.  They left one behind, and took the hundred other ones and planted them next door creating a lovely spring meadow garden.

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Traditions are Nothing New

Traditional:  belonging to the customs or ways of behaving that have continued in a group or society. Typically it has special significance or symbolic meaning. The latin verb it comes from means to transmit, to hand over, to give for safekeeping. Don't we have patterns large and small that are created and then repeated by circumstance, for efficiency and effectiveness?  I think of this as being in support of survival.    For example, what if we could drive on any side of the road on any day?    But this wouldn't be considered a tradition.  This is part of conventions.  They are a set of agreed, stipulated, or generally accepted standards, norms, or criteria, often taking the form of a custom. And then there is custom - a usage or practice common to many or to a particular place or class or habitual within an individual, considered as unwritten law, or conventions that regulate social life. So traditions and conventions and customs are intertwined.  What got me interested in traditions was the headlines of news articles.  Traditions in news articles and headlines is represented as a phrase with one of the following: interesting, shocking, dangerous, jaw dropping, strange, amazing, Swedish, and German.  I found it hilarious that Sweden and Germany made it to the strange and shocking group.  Other countries are represented in the cultural traditions search term. This leads one to laughing, so it must mean that it is time to move to the joke about 'tradition' that is reproduced everywhere.   During a service at an old synagogue in Eastern Europe, when a particular prayer was said, half the congregants stood up and half remained sitting. The half that was seated started yelling at those standing to sit down, and the ones standing yelled at the ones sitting to stand up. The new rabbi, learned as he was in the Law and commentaries, didn't know what to do. His congregation suggested that he consult a housebound 98-year-old man who was one of the original founders of their shul. The rabbi hoped the elderly man would be able to tell him what the actual tradition was, so he went to the nursing home with a representative of each faction of the congregation. The one whose followers stood during the prayer asked the old man, "Is the tradition to stand during this prayer?" The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." The one whose followers sat said, "Then the tradition is to sit!" The old man answered, "No, that is not the tradition." Then the rabbi said to the old man, "But the congregants fight all the time, yelling at each other about whether they should sit or stand." The old man interrupted, exclaiming, "THAT is the tradition!" We've launched the Fantasy of Trees social media postings.  The Fantasy of Trees is the Rotary Club of Grimsby's annual fundraiser.  It is a display of Christmas trees, wreaths, and more.  Raffle tickets are sold and the tree, wreaths and items are won and taken home in time for Christmas. There's an auction table and some of the trees and wreaths are sold that way. Trees are sponsored and decorated in creative and interesting themes. I decided that we might be able to expand our display and revenues with really great wreaths. Here's the   pinterest page for the wreaths that we've created over the year - this is a screen shot of the page a few days ago. The festival runs Nov 22 to Dec 8, 2019 - you might want to be a sponsor of one of these great wreaths!

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Trad