Happy New Year!

 To all my blog readers. Recent years have been "interesting" in good and bad ways. Let's hope this year brings more good than bad for all folks around the world.

Some photos from our Boxing Day dinner....thanks Naomi and Ray and Grace and Richard!

 

A wonderful Boxing Day dinner

 Ray cooked a wonderful Prime Rib for us all. We started with shrimp cocktail (one of my very favourite things) and ended up with a pumpkin pie Grace cooked.  It was great being with Richard and Grace and Ray and Naomi. 

Thanks so much!

So nice to have all the snow gone

 We're having our Christmas dinner today with the family at Ray and Naomi's. Ray is doing his famous prime rib. I'm glad we don't have to battle weather conditions. 

Merry Christmas to all

From 2008...

Snug as bugs...Susan and Alan's cats.

https://janicesextonart.blogspot.com/2008/12/susan-and-alans-new-cats.html

Glad to be able to get some shopping done

 We will at least have food in the house.

Jim did venture out

 We needed to water the plants at Liz's place. Toni across the street drove him over. What a great neighbour!

Sitting by the fire

 That was just about all we did yesterday. We hope to venture out today.

A sunny day and the snow has stopped

 Well, a bit of respite today but wonder if it's safe to drive. We still have an awful lot of snow on the roads around us.

We are completely snowed in now

 I would love to have this all disappear but we do still have power and we have a fair amount of food. We have our candles and flashlights ready. I'm sorry for the folks stuck in airports and other places. I hope the homeless have been housed.

Watching the snow fall Sunday.....

Makes me think of the Blizzard of '96 in Victoria when it wasn't really predicted but we got completely snowed in. 

And another lovely visit...

 ...with Richard. Great to see him!

A lovely visit

We had a lovely visit with John and Carol yesterday. So nice to see them.

Good on New Zealand

This seems like a pretty innovative way to stop people smoking. I hope it works!

" New Zealand has passed into law a unique plan to phase out tobacco smoking for the next generation by imposing a lifetime ban on young people buying cigarettes.

The law states that tobacco can't ever be sold to anybody born on or after January 1, 2009 - and from now on, the minimum age for buying cigarettes will keep going up and up. 

In theory, somebody trying to buy a pack of cigarettes 50 years from now would need ID to show they were at least 63 years old. But health authorities hope smoking will fade away well before then. They have a stated goal of making New Zealand smoke-free by 2025."

The French baguette

' UNESCO has just made the French baguette part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity, and the French delegation is wildin out there.'

We have had many wonderful baguettes in our time in France. In our first trip to France we were surprised that households bought bread in the morning for breakfast then fresh bread again for the evening meal.You really did need to do that as there weren't any preservatives.Local bakers got up early to make the morning loaves.Things have changed but our wonderful little village of Carqueiranne had 5 bakeries.I'm sure that has changed too.

Italian Christmas decorations

 Who couldn't love these?  Being sold as part of Modernism Week in Palm Springs.

Fioccodineve e Uffoguffo, Delightful Italian Christmas Baubles To Cheer Up Your Holiday Decor

We love Italian designers, and particularly love almost anything that Alessi produces.  No longer available through Alessi, they did have these adorable Christmas baubles in stock last year, but not now.  These are hand decorated, dimensions are 2.36 x 2.36 x 2.36 inches. They are hand painted on an internally mirrored glass base to give the decoration an effect of luminosity and depth. 

 

Fioccodineve e Uffoguffo were designed by Marcello Jori, who was born in 1951. He currently lives and works in Bologna. Having obtained his degree from DAMS (Drama, Art and Music Studies, Bologna), in 1977 Jori embarked on his career as an artist, exhibiting in national and foreign galleries and museums.

A wonderful library in Finland

Jim and I both love libraries and have visited many in our travels. Only the really famous ones are in the travel guidebooks but we find almost any library interesting. 

 

Oodi Library provides a radical and increasingly rare service: a free and egalitarian public space. Credit: Kuvio

Two steel arches span over 100 meters to create a fully enclosed, column-free public entrance space; the timber facade is clad with 33-millimeter-thick Finnish spruce planks. There are all manner of curious, Alice in Wonderland-esque places to sit — or indeed, lie down — while leafing through a book.

Among the vast number of amenities, what caught Johansen’s attention were the library’s 3D printers, laser cutters and equipment to digitally sculpt wood. But over time, he realized that there was a more radical and increasingly rare service that the library provides: a free and egalitarian public space.

“Students can sit and study and just hang out,” he explains. “Or you can have your kid walking around, playing around. I always spend time there with my daughter. It’s more of a cultural space. You don’t need to consume anything.”

Lucky New Yorkers

I would love to see this exhibition.

" The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York revealed it will hold a landmark exhibition of works by Vincent van Gogh next year focused on the sinuous cypresses that dominated the Dutch artist’s compositions in the last years of his life in the South of France, from his first sightings of them at Arles to works he made at the asylum at Saint Rémy.

The major exhibition—which will be on view from 22 May until 27 August 2023—is one of several shows worldwide commemorating the 170th anniversary of Van Gogh’s birth next year, but the first ever to closely examine the distinctive trees that became emblematic motifs of his work.

The cypresses are the “most famous trees in art history”, which Van Gogh captured with “fierce power and expression, painting them in such a distinct manner”, the Met’s director Max Hollein said in a press conference today (6 December)."

A violin made of chocolate

 

This was on FB. It didn't say if it was playable or not. It looks like it is.

Who would have thought...Internet via your glass windows

I seem to think "Who would have thought" a lot these days with so many technological developments. When I first started using a 300 Baud modem to connect to the world I would have laughed at a wireless signal powered by my glass windows.  

By Camille Bello  •  Updated: 07/12/2022 - 18:33

Windows are fast becoming portals into the future.

Scientists in Switzerland are already paving the way for electricity-generating windows that could help power our homes and devices. But now researchers in Saudi Arabia have developed a technology capable of transmitting a wireless Internet signal powered by the Sun through specialised glass.

"I hope that [in future] smart modern office buildings with gigantic glass windows will work with the Internet based on this technology," Professor Osama Amin, lead researcher on the project at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, told Euronews Next. 

So nice to see Richard yesterday

 Richard came over and did all sorts of technical stuff for us. Thanks so much!

Paddling down the Seine

This would have been quite something to see.

" Organized by Nautic Festival SA for the Nautic Paris Boat Show, the 12nd Nautic Paddle is scheduled on December 4th. 

 

The race will take place in Paris, with an exceptional setting on the Seine River between the National Library of France (Bibliothèque Nationale de France) and the port Javel Bas. 1000 riders, consisting of professionals and amateurs alike, are expected to be in attendance for the competition. 

 

Reminder: since 2018, 14' boards are allowed to compete."

Virtual travel thanks to the folks at Brock House

 I really enjoy these presentations and especially now when we aren't doing any travelling. I hope that will change before too long.

Welcome to Brock House's Monday Morning Travel Series.

This Monday (Dec 5): Rio de la Plata: On the South Side, Argentina’s Buenos Aires and on the North Side, Uruguay. Two side trips to the Seaside City of Mar del Plata and Argentina’s NE Province of Misiones. with Stuart Miles

Next Monday (Dec 12): Hiking and Sightseeing on the Sorrento Peninsula with Dorothy Glover 

People make art from the most amazing things

 By Remy Tumin Nov. 17, 2022

Thomas McKean has noticed a number of things New Yorkers don’t do anymore: leaving business cards on windshields, using plastic “Thank You” bags and hailing yellow cabs. Soon, Mr. McKean, an artist, will add another ubiquitous piece of New York history to that list: swiping MetroCards to ride the subway or bus.For more than 20 years, Mr. McKean has used MetroCards, along with gloves, business cards and other found objects, to make art. Using small scissors and glue, Mr. McKean cuts, stacks and arranges the thin plastic cards into yellow taxis, New York City streetscapes, abstract designs, miniature buildings and, of course, reconstituted MetroCards.“I was amazed how, from this one little flimsy piece of material, there really is a universe,” he said. Mr. McKean declined to give his age but said he was born in New York City and has lived in the East Village for more than 30 years.

Lunch at The Sylvia Sunday

 It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we enjoyed our lunch and the view as usual. Then back to sitting by the fire. 

Love these murals

I'm sure these murals are going to make travelling and all the hassles more fun. 

"A series of enormous mosaic murals by Yayoi Kusama and Kiki Smith, first announced in October, have been revealed inside the new Grand Central Madison train terminal, which opens to the public later this month in Manhattan. The glass mosaics are the main public art attractions in the terminal, which is part of an $11bn project to connect the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to Grand Central Terminal that stretches between 43rd and 48th streets along Madison Avenue."

A lovely afternoon with Bev

 Yesterday, Bev came over for tea. She was a neighbour when we lived at McKenzie House on Toronto Road and Western Parkway. Her father was Hal Strait and we had fun talking about old Vancouver times. She mentioned "The Betas" (the frat across the street) have been making a lot of noise during the pandemic so we're glad not to be there anymore.

Sitting by the fire enjoying the quiet.

Heygo Tours

 I've been enjoying these tours and you can get "postcards". Well, I managed to get one. Perhaps I'll get more next time.

1. The Magical Jewish Town of Prague and its Fascinating History

Thu, 1 Dec 2022

•

1 postcard

•

Leonard Cohen

Last night we saw a great program on Cohen by someone called Nick Broomfield. It's been a long time since we've listened to his music. 

We'll have to fix that!

Sitting by the fire....

 ....while Jim shovelled snow. It's great being a woman in these times. I take full advantage. Well, I always post the night before so hope there won't be too much snow this morning.

We missed having a drink with Liz yesterday afternoon. We are such wimps when it comes to snow. Best to sit by the fire. 

Movies

We're pretty fussy about what we watch but we enjoyed both these movies recently on Netflix:

"The Swimmers" and "Brokeback Mountain"

A lovely lunch

 We went to Maria's Taverna yesterday. I had my calamari and Jim had the roast lamb...all very yummy.

Back to sitting by the fire. 

Georgia Young Art Show

 Donna and I went to her art show yesterday and it was fun to see her work even though we don't have any wall space. We have been to another show of hers. 

Donna came back for tea and we had a really nice visit. 

What would we do without tea? 

Some of her artwork:

Some cool modern art from Ukraine

From "The Art Newspaper"

"An exhibition of Ukrainian Modernist works opening next week at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid has been organised in record time, and under trying conditions, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.

In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900-1930s includes 51 works—around 75% of the show—that have been loaned from the National Art Museum of Ukraine (Namu) and the State Museum of Theater, Music and Cinema of Ukraine, both in Kyiv. To get to the show, the works were secretly packed into trucks and transported to Madrid on 15 November, which become one of the worst days of bombing in the Ukrainian capital since the beginning of the war. This is the largest-ever legal transfer of art from a war-torn country. 

Incorporating artistic movements from Futurism to Constructivism, the show will chart the development of the Ukrainian Modernist period amid various political shifts, including the First World War and the creation of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. Many of the artists in the show were killed during the repression of Stalinism, while their histories were obscured internationally for decades by auction houses and museums using the overarching and misleading label of ‘Russian’."

 https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/11/23/ukrainian-modernist-masterpieces-transported-in-secret-from-kyiv-find-refuge-in-madrid-exhibition?utm_source=The+Art+Newspaper+Newsletters&utm_campaign=f0616b2d4b-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_11_24_11_37&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-f0616b2d4b-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Tea at Carol and John's Thursday

 It was so lovely to see them and enjoy a wonderful repast of food....biscuits and jam and smoked salmon and clotted cream...yum. And Carol gave me what looks to be a very fun read..."Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village".  She knows my taste for mysteries and this looks like a lot of fun to read.

Loved this wood sculpture

 It seems like it is blowing in the wind.

Photo by John Denniston

November 22nd, 2022 — Improvised wood sculpture on the West Vancouver sea wall.

Making exams fun

 This college teacher says she didn't really have problems with her students cheating but thought it would be fun if students came up  with ideas for hats that would prevent cheating. More than anything I think this helped students relax and I'm sure this helped their results.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/10/25/philippines-anti-cheating-hats-exam-photos/?utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F3837e18%2F63592ff3f3d9003c581b5be7%2F596a937bade4e20ee373994f%2F23%2F51%2F63592ff3f3d9003c581b5be7&wp_cu=0676d4c4e6cea127b13ab3f4f1cf6853%7C379BE4FA12381CD0E0530100007F48ED

Christmas is coming....

We just loved Edinburgh and this Christmas Market sounds like it would be great fun. Pretty amazing to beat out Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels.

 "The Christmas Market in Edinburgh has been crowned the best in Europe by National Geographic. With December rapidly approaching, nothing beats heading to one of Scotland's festive markets to soak up the wintry atmosphere. 

The iconic American geography magazine shared an article listing the five best Christmas markets to visit by rail in Europe. The one in Edinburgh came out on top, beating markets in cities such as Paris, Amsterdam, and Brussels. 

Anyone who has been to Edinburgh's Christmas Market in East Princes Street Gardens will know that it is a one-of-a-kind experience. From food stalls serving up festive treats to rides and attractions for all ages, there's no better way to spend a chilly winter evening."

A lovely evening with Grace and Richard

 Grace made a wonderful apple cake and we ordered in from Minerva's.

Everything was very yummy and we had lots of fun talking.

Thanks, Guys!  Always great to see you.

Getting hugged by an octopus

 I found this to be a pretty interesting story and reminded me of the time I hugged an elephant in Thailand. Well, the elephant wasn't in the wild but it was an amazing experience all the same. 

I'm not sure I could have remained calm in an encounter with an octopus...yikes!

"B.C. scuba diver Andrea Humphreys’ new acquaintance greeted her more like a long-lost friend, with extended arms, then a full-body hug, and finally a kiss, lip to tentacle.

Humphreys’ “mind-blowing” encounter was with a giant Pacific octopus.

The schoolteacher’s video of the rare moment with the creature, in three-metre-deep water off Campbell River on Vancouver Island, has gone viral.

“I’ve been diving for 12 years. I have never had that. It was just mind-blowing, and it was so incredible,” said Humphreys, who has done more than 675 dives around the world but describes her interaction with the octopus as the experience of a lifetime."

https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/watch-bc-diver-encounter-with-giant-pacific-octopus?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sunrise%20Newsletter%20VS%202022-11-07&utm_term=VS_Sunrise

Dinner last night at the University Golf Club

 We always enjoy our time there. I seem to almost always get the salt and pepper chicken wings and  Jim enjoys his burger. I stole a few fries. A lady came up to us and said she did the same thing. We agreed we only wanted a few fries and stolen ones taste better.

Another artist...

I will try to upload more works. I really like the simplicity. 

From Wiki:

Ugo Rondinone (born November 30, 1964) is a Swiss-born artist widely recognized for his mastery of several different media—most prominently sculpture, drawing and painting, but also photography, architecture, video and sound installation—in the largely figurative works he has made for exhibitions in galleries, museums and outdoor public spaces around the world. He has never limited himself to a particular material, no more than he has to a single discipline. Lead, wood, wax, bronze, stained glass, ink, paint, soil and stone are all tools in a creative arsenal that the artist has employed to extend the Romantic tradition in works that are as sensitive to the passage of time as to the nuances of body language and the spoken word.

Rondinone is widely known for his temporary, large-scale land art sculpture, Seven Magic Mountains (2016–2021),with its seven fluorescently-painted totems of large, car-size stones stacked 32 feet (9.8 m) high. ^[1]

Ugo Rondinone

 

FIVE CENT MEALS

 It is funny to think that a nickel could go this far. I think I'm right in remembering that I was given a quarter to go to the corner store and that bought a quart of milk, a loaf of bread and left two cents for me to spend on candy.

You gotta love the dedication of golfers

 

Stanford made a cheap microscope...wow!

Stories like this always amaze me especially when I think of the number of lives that can be saved.

AUTHOR Rebekah Brandes

It’s difficult to determine the world’s most expensive microscope — one powerful electron microscope cost $27 million to get up and running back in 2009 — but it may be easier to call out the cheapest. The Foldscope is made of paper and costs $1.75 to produce. Don’t let the low price point fool you, though; the 2022 Golden Goose award winner is an impressive feat of engineering and is making science more accessible the world over. 

It was affordability that inspired Stanford engineering professor and Foldscope co-creator Manu Prakash over a decade ago, according to an article published on the Golden Goose website. While studying infectious disease diagnostics in Thailand in 2011, Prakash began to consider how to improve testing for malaria, many cases of which go undetected, according to the World Health Organization. Early diagnosis is a key component in treatment and transmission of the disease, and one which requires analyzing samples under a microscope. There was a microscope where Prakash was working, but it wasn’t in use. 

Good on Apple for making this wonderful art possible

 

The commissioned mural on the facade of the new Apple Store in Pacific Centre is a collaboration between celebrated Canadian designer Mo Bofill and Musqueam weaver and artist Debra Sparrow. (Courtesy Apple)

Positioned across from the Vancouver Art Gallery, it’s appropriate that Apple is leaning hard into a new, artful era. “This new store is a place where creative journeys begin,” explains the press release. To wit, Apple is offering a grand opening weekend designed to get that creative spark, uh, sparking: think live rap performances by Boslen, live dance by Emmy-winning choreographer Chloé Arnold, and Q&A with your boy George Stromboloupoulos.

Aspiring shutterbugs (or whatever we call people who lean hard into Portrait Mode these days) can take a photography tour of Vancouver architecture, while artists can enjoy free workshops and tutorials from Apple Creative Pros.

Register here for opening weekend events, or just wander on down to the corner of West Georgia and Howe to find inspiration from downtown’s newest mural—no Apple ID required.

Cheese on Dunbar

 We had a lovely dinner with Sherrill,  and Donna and Earl last night. So nice to see everyone and dinner was very yummy.

An early rise for Jim

 Jim gave a lecture to English Masters students at the University in Almeria, Spain Thursday morning. He is always very impressed by their questions and input. This time they used Blackboard Collaborate, a platform that Jim likes better than Google Meet. The university does have a beautiful setting on the Mediterranean.. 

Ah, the Mediterranean. We've had some wonderful warm swims not to mention lovely seaside meals.

Lest we forget