Marilyn's Photos - May 6 2026 - My New AI Voice

 

I was at choir practice yesterday and I can hear it when someone in my section - the altos - is not singing the right notes.  Usually an alto singing wrong notes is singing lower rather than higher.   It seems to me that anyone inclined to sing higher seeks to be a soprano.  But that doesn't spare them when they sing wrong notes as I expect sopranos singing the wrong notes also sing lower.  This is called "tone-shy" compared to tone-deaf and people seek a "comfortable" pitch which generally is lower than the intended note.  This morning the Globe and Mail had an article on how call centres are using AI to change the accents of customer service centre representatives.  That's to make them more understandable to "us." What do you make of that?  First that they are still using real people, and second they can alter their voices in real time.  To me it seems like science fiction. We shouldn't be surprised. They already do that with celebrity singers in need of pitch correction.  Auto-tune became famous when Cher used it for a stylistic vocal effect on Believe. It is now standard practice. Not surprisingly, the article says that Justin Bieber uses auto-tune.  How do I know it isn't surprising?  I remember him as a teenager singing outside the Festival Theatre in Stratford and he sang so badly that Rick thought someone should put him out of his misery.  It may be that Rick offered to do the job. So would auto-tune be usable for our sopranos who have difficulty with those high notes?  My guess is yes. I see them all hooked up with tubes and little iPhone sorts of machines on their laps.  I guess I am inclined towards a science fiction sort of motif. My complaint about wrong notes goes nowhere - I can't expect it to help the wrong note singer.  It says it cannot fix singing that is extremely off-key.  Still in the science fiction motif my answer is this:  Wait a few days, and AI will have something to completely replace the singer in real time.  We'll just stand there. Would people be tempted to change their voices?  This seems like a lazy way to do it - rather than elocution lessons.  Get accents that are considered attractive, remove unattractive accents, change the pitch and emotion of voices and so on.  I expect it has already started. Will there be actual 'real-time' people in the future?   Are you ready for some giant exotic Trilliums?  These were in Marion Jarvie's garden on the weekend.  They are known as Giant Trilliums. Maybe it is Trillium chloropetalum var. giganteum ‘Alba’ - the flower petals stay vertical and don't open up like the Grandiflorum.

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

Marilyn's Photos - May 5 2026 - The Met Gala

 

Last night was the New York Metropolitan Opera's Met Gala. It is a costume event rather than a red carpet movie star event.  It is one of those American extravaganzas - big money, big celebrities.  A ticket is $100,00, tables were $350,000 and brought in $42 million.  I wonder what happens to all that money.  Here's the answer:  the Costume Institute has to fund itself, so the gala is its source of income.  There's a lot written about the actual operating budget (Reddit contributors say $5 million) versus the pot of money raised. The theme was Fashion is Art.  Take this dress - made of 15,000 glass balls with a little machine that spewed bubbles.  Isn't that so amazing.  I can't get that many ornaments on a Christmas tree each year.    Here's an all-time creepy hair display. Beyonce - and her daughter whose name is Blue Ivy (age 14) - have enough of those hair extensions to further creating the nest  in a mountain cave that is lined with the feather/fur-looking dress.  I wonder what happens after the show - how do they remove them all?  The weight would be exhausting.  More creepy follows.  This is Doechii wearing "something" - the article said there was more fabric on the top of her head than in the dress.  And look at her on her tip toes.  She looks like one of those harem slaves in a Hollywood 1950s Aladdin movie. And time for an artful dress - doesn't it look like a painting with all that texture!  Too bad about the wearer's expression - zombie-like. Here's the rest in the Vogue article HERE.  It is amazing how creative we can be with clothing.  We wear utilitarian clothes each day as though dressing is a chore.  It is delightful to see what our human creativity can express. And here we have the expressions of nature with a happy spring tree moment today.

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

Marilyn's Photos - May 4th 2026 - Star Wars Day

It is the celebration day of Star Wars.  The first organized celebration took place in 2011 in Toronto.  It is an informal, grass-roots celebration in many places.  Maybe not China where it is Youth Day instead. The actual release date of the movies was May 25th, 1977.  "The Star Wars: Tales" instalment premiered on May 4, 2024.  And the follow-up premiered a year later on the same date.  The final 2 episodes are supposed to be aired today.   It is such a good pun that the phrase will be repeated many millions of times today.  That's my estimate.  Google's AI is very reluctant to make estimates.  It does say that the phrase was said 24 times in the Star Wars film franchise.  That seems meagre.  Yet it has had a mighty effect bringing fun to everyone. Spring time at Grimsby Beach with the Painted Ladies houses.

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

Marilyn's Photos - May 3 2026 - I Wear EyeweaR

 

There were such different responses to cataract surgery.  One person said she couldn't wait to get rid of her glasses.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, I told the doctor that since I've worn glasses since the age of nine or so, that I would prefer to have glasses.  And that turned out accurate as I had to wait a month to get a new prescription and I was looking for my glasses out of habit and reflex.  I got the lenses taken out and wore them to solve that problem.   Have you ever been tempted to get glasses frames that stand out from your face and demand attention?  Maybe yes or no - I think it depends on your professional orientation. We can sort the groups who will be interested in them.  Remove all the engineers as they are looking at the data and not at peoples' faces.  It is said that doctors want functional, protective, and comfortable eyewear.  What would you expect from lawyers?  Traditional, professional, conservative glasses are preferred.   I guess it is people who want to be "seen" - wouldn't that be celebrities and people in the arts? They seem to be the ones wearing unusual eyewear frames.  However, the market for the glasses are  "ordinary" people who want to exude those vibes. Frame styles today have names such as the Bayonetta, Expressive Futurism, Quiet Luxury and Pillow.  It makes me think of the Pantone Colour of the Year.   You can take a stroll through Hollywood celebrities wearing glasses.  HERE it is.  And below is a nice collage of famous movies showcasing eyewear in their posters.     And you can get the birds' eye view of eyewear trends with the chart below. And following that is a chart of famous eyewear through the decades.  Even after cataract surgery completed, it seems very hard to read.   My Saucer Magnolia is about to bloom - the Star Magnolia is just finishing.

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

Marilyn's Photos - May 2 2026 - Skills I don't need

 

"In this guide I'll walk you through the seven skills that are rapidly becoming obsolete and what's replacing them..." These are panic articles about basic data entry, customer service representatives, copy writing, language translation and so on - jobs going, going, gone, maybe even long gone now.  What about things like dictaphone transcription, using carbon paper for copies, hand mending socks, treadle sewing machine operation, putting a record player stylus (I had to look it up as I didn't remember the name) on the record correctly,  using a manual can opener and a rotary egg beater? Things we did, like "roll down the car windows" for some fresh air. And we used a paper map to guide us to where we were going. And what about the trivial social skill of being quiet in a movie theatre?  OK, no longer needed as no one goes to movie theatres.  And that other skill - waiting - mostly obsolete now.  These are quaint skills now - vintage skills - thousands of them. We can go to Wikipedia to see the list of obsolete occupations.  That's the fear that is circulating everywhere now - like the seven skills guide above.  And what are some of those obsolete occupations?  Alchemist tops the list, and it is one that was "debunked" due to the rise of modern science. It started in the 3rd century and concluded in the 20th century - that hung around a long time.  The extensive and interesting list is HERE.  AI has snuck into my photos as this photo was retrieved with the keyword "vintage" - a keyword I can't ever remember using.  This tulip field is blooming now - located at Seventh Street and Fourth Street in St. Catharines - very close to the 13th Street Winery.    In comparison, here are some sewing machines that would be considered vintage - these were in Port Credit.  I keyworded these as "antique."

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