Marilyn's Photos - Aug 10 2025 - August Heat

 

It is a very hot day today - we spent a little while in Brian's Lilycrest Hybridizing field digging up some nice daylilies.  So I looked up the words "August Heat" and got  this synopsis of a short story, written in 1910 by W. F. Harvey: On a scorching August day, artist James Clarence Withencroft draws a sketch of a criminal in the dock immediately after the judge has given him a sentence. That evening, Withencroft goes for a walk and wanders into the workshop of a stonemason, Charles Atkinson. To his surprise, Atkinson exactly resembles the criminal in the sketch he is carrying in his pocket. Both men are shocked to discover that the model headstone Atkinson has just finished carving bears Withencroft's full name, his date of birth, and that very day as the date of his death. The two men are unnerved and agree that, for the sake of safety, Withencroft should stay at Atkinson's place until midnight has passed and the date changed. The story ends with Withencroft writing the day's events as Atkinson sharpens some tools: "It is after eleven now. I shall be gone in less than an hour. But the heat is stifling. It is enough to send a man mad." And that's the last line.  You can read the short story HERE. So far my hot August day is just a hot day.

I've visited a numerous cemeteries, looking for interesting headstones with carvings.  Here's one that seemed a bi unusual with the leaf obscuring the name.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - Aug 9 2025 - Gold Leaf Everywhere

 

I love gold leaf.  There was a period where I used it in baking and would put little flakes on cakes and soufflé dessert creations.  It became unavailable - even at Toronto's largest baking store which was located near me.  I have kept some sheets, and every once in a while decorate a birthday cake.   When I started water colours, I thought how wonderful it would be too be able to paint with gold, bronze and silver so I got some metal water colours.  They were OK, but I found out that the really beautiful gold in pictures was actual gold.  I had admired this Sleeping Bee and went to the artist site and she described a complicated and delicate process for applying the actual gold.

Here we are today with the White House being adorned in gold scrolls - just like the little Sleeping Bee picture.  Here's a picture of the "Old Days" with the Clinton/Biden blue rug and simple decor. This picture has been shown a lot - doesn't that look like trophies and couldn't there be a sleeping be int he scroll work at right? This picture has been shown a lot - doesn't that look like trophies and couldn't there be a sleeping be int he scroll work at right? There is so much attention to his decorating in the press that there are guides. This week's additions - so much gold that whatever the $600 billion about is dwarfed.  The Sun King arrives in the Oval Office.   Little did we know we had something in common with Donald Trump.  Here's my own version of shiny.   Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Marilyn's Photos - Aug 8 2025 - To Wish

 

I saw the headline - "I wish I'd known" - it sounds like "Why didn't anybody tell me?"  Maybe it is the word "wish"  that phrase is about a strong desire or hope for something that is not easily attained so there's a sense of longing, yearning and desire.  And then put it in the past as in I wish I'd known - isn't that about regret.     We have a more positive view of wish today.  It is often paired with best wishes - and likely the most used version is with a birthday - a greeting that gives a positive sentiment for the year ahead.  It is still considered good etiquette.  Best wishes is much more positive than good luck.  That implies it is up to the fates and that we are not our own masters.  And best wishes greetings have been with us for centuries.  Think of Shakespeare and his many greetings.   Here are a few ways that he said best wishes in his work:   “Heaven give you many, many merry days.” [Mistress Page, Merry Wives of Windsor. Act 5, Scene 5] “Heaven send thee good fortune.” [Mistress Quickly, Merry Wives of Windsor. Act 3, Scene 4] “Your heart’s desires be with you.” [Celia, As You Like It. Act 1, Scene 2] “Lack nothing: be merry.” [Shallow, Henry IVp2. Act 5, Scene 3] “All days of glory, joy and happiness.” [Lewis, King John. Act 3, Scene 4] “Fair thought and happy hours attend you.” [Lorenzo, Merchant of Venice. Act 3, Scene 4] “I wish you all the joy you can wish.” [Gratiano, Merchant of Venice. Act 3, Scene 2]

We are almost at the end of the Trillium Season for Grimsby's front gardens - just two weeks left.  This week's winner is a very pretty house and garden composed of graceful curves.

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Marilyn's Photos - Aug 7 2025 - From Sodom to Sodomy

 

How does one get from Sodom the place to sodomy, typically referred to as anal sex and acts against nature.  What did Sodom do to get this permanent infamy?   Way back in Genesis 19, the story goes that the city of Sodom was destroyed by God.  No reason given in Genesis.  The reason came later and was inferred to be because Lot's male guests were assaulted by the men of Sodom.  So the Sodom to Sodomy story is an interpretation.  Other Old Testament books - Deuteronomy and Ezekiel mention Sodom and Gomorrah associating them with sins such as adultery and lying.  Go in the opposite direction and you will find that badminton, the sport is named after Badminton in England.  Bikini?  We know that's the Bikini Atoli where atomic bombs were tested in 1946.  The bathing suit supposedly had an "explosive" effect on the male libido. Cologne the perfume originated in Cologne, Germany.  The duffle coat comes from Duffel, Belgium.  Isn't it a delight that the tuxedo is named after Tuxedo Park in New York.   So back to Sodom and sodomy - why would they name a road Sodom Road in the Niagara Falls area? It started out as Concession Road 3 in the late 1700s - and then somehow it changed names.  "The first written reference to the name “Sodom” for this road appeared in 1851 when Henry Ort applied for a license for his new tavern on the town line at New Germany. His license was dated December 28, 1851."  What a mystery to choose to change it from Concession Road 3 to Sodom Road  - an infamous reference.This isn't anything like calling it Badminton Road.

Start at one point and watch the evolution to something quite different.  Our picture of a watercolour paint palette went through a few versions of Flaming Pear's Flexify - and example is the second picture - and then the various pictures were composed in the Diptich application.

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Marilyn's Photos - Aug 6 2025 - Magic Tricks

 

How many magic tricks should we learn?  We may want to amaze any crowd.  Or do we want to improve critical thinking skills? Magic tricks are there to "enrich our lives."  Should we watch the youtube video of the most famous world magic tricks revealed?  The dove is stuffed inside a box and then flies out rather than coming alive from a picture.  And so on.   It isn't fun to find out the answer - whether it is the top 10 or the greatest 100.  The point of magic tricks is that they are illusions and we like mystery and the unknown as long as there is humour.  What about breaking the Magician's Code? This shouldn't happen should it?  And to make it worse, it was a TV program in the late 1990s that revealed some of the oldest tricks and some sleight of hand tricks.  There were lawsuits by professional magicians over who invented what, criticisms that the explanations were inaccurate.  And then some had to change tricks as the underlying method was revealed so where's the mystery and fun? And how did David Copperfield make a plane disappear?  With smoke and mirrors.   The answer is HERE.

This first illusiosn was at Disney World in Orlando - a bit of magic through the disguise of ivy and the acrobat on stilts.  And below that?  The magic of the natural world - this is the Titan Arum in the green house in Niagara Falls 10 years ago.  These are the plants that smell like rotting flesh, and this particular variety is the largest plant in the world.  I have a 2 foot tall variety of Arum  - still very stinky.

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