Marilyn's Photos - July 20 2025 - Musk vs Trump -= Round 2

 

How many rounds will there be in the fight between Trump and Musk?  This seems like Round 2 to me.  But actually the alternate party threat has already been identified in the press as Round 2 -   "the first salvo in the second round of the break-up saga". So let's consider this Round 3. The Round's title in the press is "Trump's Epstein Crisis" Subtitle: The president's former first buddy is doing everything he can to rub salt into Trump's wounds. "Musk asked why “Ghislaine [Maxwell] is in federal prison for a hoax,” proved to be a precursor to a marathon of posts piling pressure on Trump and his administration.  Musk posted about Epstein 13 times in just over an hour on Wednesday afternoon...Musk also targeted Trump directly, referring to his flights on Epstein’s private jet, nicknamed the “Lolita Express...”  From the sidelines of Canada, I hadn't followed the Epstein case over the years - our own Paul Bernardo case makes us Canadians think twice about reading the stories of sexual abuse.  They make for nightmares and the story was banned from the Canadian press at the time. But this is different.  And why is that? Claiming there is nothing to see seems ludicrous when you "skim" the Wikipedia entry on Epstein, The entry is so long that one just starts to scroll through it.   Over 200 survivors have come forward or sued Epstein, his estate, the federal government and financial institutions to recover money for the victims.  How many haven't come forward? It is estimated that 63% of sexual assaults are unreported. That makes for a lot of offenders off in the wings, with low probabilities of nothing to see. The Wikipedia entry on the listings in the phone book is a who's who of celebrities, politicians and prominent people.  Among them are convicted or accused sex abusers such as Harvey Weinstein. With this many connections of various kinds to important and prominent people, it is normal that we ask which ones were involved with what? If there isn't a figuring out or a "reckoning", this will go on.  And this may go on anyway as there is a question of whether it is a "list" that has to be compiled through investigation. Experts and legal representatives for the survivors conjecture that the list was a mental one rather than written. Wouldn't an investigation possiblt uncover more than just the list of bad sexual predators/actors? it could reveal all kinds of illegal or quasi-legal dealings.  Now I've gotten to thinking there might be a swamp. A cover-up makes sense.   Back to the Musk-Trump battle:  Who would guess that the "Epstein Saga" is Round 3 in the Musk-Trump battle? And where will the Epstein Saga head next?  I think the N.Y. Times will start a full page each week, detailing the saga.  Just like it has a full page summary of Trump's activities.  These are meant for the history books, so time to start keep notes.

I did the Up Against the Wall Series during COVID and it seems relevant here.  What about the picture below?  The blue door propped against the wall so there's nowhere to get to and no way to get inside but the door came from somewhere and seems sufficiently important to be guarded.      Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - July 18 2025 - Cutting Corners

 

I was reading the architecture section of the Globe and Mail this morning and it referred to corners in a residence, and I thought about the expression "to cut corners" - that wouldn't work in a building would it?   The expression likely originated in carriage driving and in hunting. That was in the 1800s. Shortcuts across corners is the simplest version.  And now it just means to take shortcuts to save time, effort, resources.  It can be positive or negative - cutting corners can mean doing incomplete work or something so poorly that it causes serious consequences or disaster.   Some lame jokes: I got a job at a circle making factory! Sadly, I was fired today because I was cutting corners The lady in the drive through at Wendy's asked if she could get a round burger patty and she got the answer.... "No sorry. We don't cut corners here" Did you hear The Pentagon was actually supposed to be an octagon? but they hired a government contractor that cut corners

It is the Annual Lily Show this weekend.  Here's a picture from a few years ago - lots of stems lined up on display at the Royal Botanical Gardens.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

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Marilyn's Photos - July 17 2025 - Whilst

 

What do you think of the word "whilst"?  Or do you think about it?  Cathal Kelly started his column with this word today.  That's in the Sports section.  It is about The Open.  It isn't about the British Open.  Or The British Open.  It is about The Open.  So much said with upper case and no adjectives - the point of his article.  Whilst is getting hard to find in the search engine controlled by Google's AI, so I went onto Duck A Go Go even though it also has an AI search component that prefaces all retrievals with its "answer."   The story goes that while and whilst mean the same when we use them as conjunctions. They both mean ‘during the time that something else happens’, or ‘in contrast with something else’.  And the obvious: While is much more common than whilst, and whilst sounds more formal: From writing explained.org: Whilst is an old word. It originates from Middle English, and like many words from this era, was first used in the 14th century. Whilst is common in formal British English, but in American English, you rarely see this word, even in the most formal occasion. Whilst and while are two spellings of the same word, which can be used as a conjunction or an adverb. It means at the same time or whereas. The article by Cathal Kelly in today's globe is:  "At The British Open, establishing linguistic supremacy is the name of the game." I sought out more quotes from Kelly, as he is very humorous in his sports writing. I found this one from his book:  “(Umbert Eco) told a story about his library, which contained ten thousand volumes. (Someone) asked if he’d read all of them... « Of course I haven’t read them all. If I had, why would I keep them? » That line hit me like a lighting bolt. That was the purpose of life. Not accumulating knowledge, or rounding out an area of expertise or building a collection. But recognizing that for some people who come to it early and without being forced, LIFE IS A LONG SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT BOOK.” ― Cathal Kelly, Boy Wonders: A memoir

Model layouts and contest entries from narrow gauge conventions past. Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - July 16 2025 - 1 in 8 billion obituary

 

How many people have run a marathon at 100?  We think we know the answer - Fauja Singh- he ran a full marathon in 2011 at the age of 100 in Toronto.  Because his age could not be verified, he isn't listed in the Guinness Book of Records. He is in the news, having died.  Not of old age, but of being hit by a car in India.  His reported age was 114.  While his passport says he was born in 1911, the Indian government says there were no birth certificates in 1911. The Guinness record says:  "The oldest man to complete a 26-mile marathon was Greek runner Dimitrion Yordanidis, in Athens, Greece on 10 October 1976. At age 98, he finished in 7 hr 33 min. His name has also been transliterated as Dimitris Iordanidis." There is one website with a list of oldest marathoners, and they seem to have run their marathons in the two thousand and teens.  None are listed after 2020.   Singh's age is near the top of the oldest people still alive - you can find the list of oldest people with 50 of them coming in at between 115 years and 112 years.   If you are my age consider this:  it would mean there are 50 more years to live to get to that age.  It isn't a pleasant thought to me.  What do you think? CBC's coverage was very touching as CBC sports commentators had met Fauja Singh when he was in the Toronto Marathon and kept the marathon open to accommodate him finishing (at that age).   The story of his running is well-known:  He began running to recover from the tragic death of his son who was decapitated by a piece of corrugated metal blown by the wind.  Singh was with his son and witnessed this. "From a tragedy has come a lot of success and happiness," Singh is quoted as saying.

This popped up in my search of my pictures for something that was tagged as "old" and found this - does anyone know who the comedian is and what age is he now?

So instead of something old, I've found something irritating. This is a very irritating lily to  growers.  It has a disorder called fasciation that causes all of these blossoms to form a dense cluster at the top.  It can't be made to do this - it isn't genetic.  Too bad, as it would be a bridal bouquet a thousand times over each year.  Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - July 15 2025 - Never Retire

 

Never retire.  Bob Dylan is still touring at the age of 84.  That seems astonishing.  He's touring with Willie Nelson, and he's 92.   Paul McCartney is coming to the renovated Hamilton Colliseum.  He's 83 years old.  And the Rolling Stones Mick Jagger is 81 years old.  But they cancelled their UK and European tour for 2025 due to logistical challenges.  They are planning a 2026 tour.  What do I think these aged rock singers have in common?  While some of them never sang well, all of them don't sing well anymore.  I can't imagine listening to a concert of Paul McCartney with the quaver of the very old vocal chords.   Even worse, to my ear is Willie Nelson with a voice that has always been unpleasant.  He supposedly has a "songwriter's voice." That sounds like code for writes better than he sings.  Here's one Quora writer's take on his voice: "Like a wonderful blanket crocheted by your favorite relative.  The one you've had for 30-years. Oh sure, there are some tattered corners, mended holes and faded colors;  but all of these things are why you love it so…soft in all the right places." Another quote:  "Mannered.  He doesn't really sing as much as he "talks tunefull'. Does Bob Dylan have a songwriter's voice?  Here's one contribution to Reddit: "I've literally not met one person that likes Bob Dylan's singing. So is it that weird that I think he's a great singer?"   There is a lot of analysis on Bob Dylan's voice. My observation is that Bob Dylan doesn't sing in the key that the band is playing in.   And here's a joke in that reddit post:   "Dylan and Mick Jagger were arguing about who was a better musician. Dylan posited that Jagger could not have written Mr. Tambourine Man, but Dylan could have written Satisfaction. To which Jagger replied "Yeah, but could you sing it?"

Here's the result of yesterday's watercolour class.

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