Cool artwork by Shara Hughes

"Born in Atlanta in 1981 and based in Brooklyn, Shara Hughes is celebrated for her distinctive approach to landscape painting, combining historical influences with contemporary sensibilities. Her jubilant color palette is reminiscent of masters like Henri Matisse, conveyed with David Hockney's stylish, visual boldness while acknowledging a broader tradition of landscape painting, including influences from Art Nouveau, Fauvism, and German Expressionism." From: The Art Newspaper

A sure way to get publicity

Good on King Charles for taking it so well.

From CNN "King Charles III’s first official portrait was unveiled to public criticism over its contemporary take on the British monarch. The portrait was commissioned to celebrate King Charles’s 50 years as a member of the Drapers’ Company, one of the U.K.’s oldest charitable bodies. Artist Jonathan Yeo said his goal was to highlight “a 21st-century monarchy” but the dramatic backdrop was likened to a “pinkish psychedelic splurge” by Jonathan Jones in The Guardian and a “grisly execution” at the Tower of London by Kate Mansey in The Times. King Charles himself looked “mildly surprised” as he pulled back the black curtain to reveal the bold portrait, which he last saw in a “half-done state,” but seemed to smile “approvingly,” Yeo shared with BBC."

Hedy Lamarr, the inventor

Quite amazing and so unknown...first I heard of her being such an important inventor. From: Interesting Facts Hedy Lamarr During her Hollywood heyday, Hedy Lamarr was known as “the most beautiful woman in the world,” a designation that ignored the impressive brain power behind those green eyes. Determined to aid the Allied cause during World War II, Lamarr teamed with composer George Antheil to devise a radio transmission technique that defied enemy disruption efforts by randomly jumping to different frequencies. Although it was initially dismissed by the U.S. Navy, the secret communication system is now recognized as a precursor to the wireless technology that fills our everyday lives. Lamarr also dabbled in more mundane creations, like an improved stoplight and dog collar, and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2014.

Yeah....the Blue Jays won yesterday

The final score was 7-3. We especially enjoy our baseball when they win.

Olympics Opening Ceremonies

It was fun watching these and seeing glimpses of Paris. So glad everything went ok. I guess they really don't want people posting photos they don't really have legal access to as I can't seem to get any photos to upload. Fair enough.

PEZ candy

As a kid I loved eating PEZ. It was so much fun using the dispenser. I didn't know it was created to help people quit smoking.

From: Nice News "PEZ candy was created to help people quit smoking. Decades before doctors began to publicize the harmful effects of cigarettes, a 30-year-old Austrian executive decided to invent a refreshing alternative. In 1927, Eduard Haas III was managing his family’s baking goods business — the Ed. Haas Company — when he expanded the product line to include round, peppermint-flavored treats known as PEZ Drops. The German word for peppermint is pfefferminz, and Haas found the name for his new candies by combining the first, middle, and last letters of the German term. Clever advertising built national demand for the candy, which adopted its iconic brick shape in the 1930s and eventually nixed the “Drops.” PEZ were packaged in foil paper or metal tins until Haas hired engineer Oscar Uxa to devise a convenient way of extracting a tablet single-handedly. Uxa’s innovation — a plastic dispenser with a cap that tilted backward as springs pushed the candy forward — debuted at the 1949 Vienna Trade Fair. "

GDT Nature Photographer of the Year

Quite an amazing photo for sure.

"The German Society for Nature Photography (GDT) has announced the winner of its prestigious GDT Nature Photographer of the Year competition. The 2024 winner is Dieter Damschen for his photo Winter flood in a riparian forest. “Winter is my favorite time of year, and one of my favored motifs is the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Elbe River Landscape,” Damschen explains.” I often visit this hardwood riparian forest in the fore land of the dyke to take photographs at fixed points with lines of sight that reveal carefully selected compositions.” While the photographer has spent a lot of time in this forest and captured many images over the years, he says he is “regularly surprised” by how different the location can appear in various conditions."

A dress made of dahlias

From: The Good News Network "Dress made of 200 dahlia flowers – by Anita Lee-Archer / SWNS A mom created a fairytale dress made of more than 200 fresh flowers she grew herself, as part of her university studies in art and design. Anita Lee-Archer created the dress on her daughter, Bella, spending around two hours arranging multi-colored dahlias, hand-picked from her garden in Australia. The mother-of-five is pursuing a fine arts degree at the University of Tasmania at age 48. She decided to go back to college four years ago to pursue her dreams of a career in art."

The 1st Mexico City taquería to make Michelin star history

This is pretty cool. Good on Michelin for recognising street food can be great.

"Taquerías are a quintessential part of Mexico's street food scene and culture. And for the first time in history, the Michelin Guide has awarded one of its coveted stars to a tiny taco stand in Mexico City. Chef Arturo Rivera Martínez has helmed the ripping hot flat top at Taquería El Califa de León for 20 years -- searing off fresh meat to fill tortillas topped with red or green sauce -- and on Tuesday, it became the first taco shop to obtain one of the French dining guide's prestigious honors. From: CNN

Tomatoes

I love tomatoes so glad the world got this sorted out. Looks like pizza is the hero of this story. From: History Facts "There’s a reason why the humble tomato used to be known by the far more sinister moniker of “poison apple”: Europeans feared tomatoes for centuries and believed they were poisonous. As recently as the 18th century, it was thought that aristocrats were falling ill and even dying after eating tomatoes — a misconception stemming from the use of pewter plates, which contained high lead content. The fruit, which is highly acidic, would leach that lead and then poison the unlucky eater. The fear of tomatoes was just as prevalent across the pond, where some American farmers believed that the green tomato worm was “poisonous as a rattlesnake” (in the words of one New York farmer). An entomologist named Benjamin Dann Walsh eventually set the record straight, writing that the insect in question was “merely an ugly-looking worm which eats some of the leaves of the tomato,” and by the late 1800s, more people began to appreciate tomatoes for the nutritious treat they are. That change of heart was thanks in part to the increasing popularity of pizza, of which Italy’s Queen Margherita (sound familiar?) was known to partake. It’s believed by some that Raffaele Esposito, a baker from Naples often credited with inventing the modern pizza, used the Italian flag’s three colors as inspiration: red tomatoes, white mozzarella, and green basil. If anything explains an entire continent overcoming its irrational fear of tomatoes, it makes sense that it would be pizza."

A mother at 70

I had no idea flamingos lived this long. Amazing it was her first egg.

"A flamingo who was described as having been "unlucky in love" has laid her first egg at a nature reserve aged 70. Gertrude is part of a flamboyance of more than 65 flamingos at Pensthorpe nature reserve near Fakenham, Norfolk. The reserve is awaiting new arrivals of flaminglets, as many of the birds are currently sitting on their nests before their eggs hatch. Ben Marshall, the reserve's managing director, said: "Flamingos might live 40 years and Gertrude is 70, so [at] that ripe old age to be able to display [maternal] characteristics is amazing."

Seat Belts

Volvo gave away its seat belt patent to save lives. Makes me feel pretty positive towards Volvo.

Good on Volvo! From: Nice News "Few people in history are credited with saving millions of lives, but one person who did so worked for Volvo. Swedish engineer Nils Bohlin’s improvement on the three-point seat belt has helped drivers (and passengers) safely reach their destination for more than six decades. Seat belts are a standard feature in today’s cars and trucks, but it hasn’t always been that way. In the 1950s and ’60s, car manufacturers weren’t required to include safety belts in vehicles. When they were built in, the earliest seat belts were simple two-point restraints that secured across the waist (aka lap belts). While a step in the right direction, lap belts had some downsides — they didn’t protect the upper body during a collision and could even cause injuries during high-speed crashes. A three-point design was created in 1951 by Americans Roger W. Griswold and Hugh DeHaven, but it never took off, likely because it was uncomfortable. Recognizing these issues, Swedish carmaker Volvo hired Bohlin (a former aviation engineer who helped create pilot ejection seats) as the company’s safety engineer, and tasked him with a redesign. Bohlin’s creation — a more comfortable V-shaped belt that stays in position across both the chest and hips — was drafted in under a year, and is the style used in cars today. Volvo added the belts to its cars in 1959, before the inventor even secured a patent. But when he did, Bohlin and Volvo didn’t look to profit off of the safety feature. Instead, they released the design publicly, urging all car manufacturers to add the upgraded belts. After years of presentations and crash test dummy demos, Volvo eventually made headway — the evidence of which is found in our cars today and credited with saving lives around the world."

Worry worm

So adorable...just looking at it would help you to worry less.

The Crochet Worry Worm is perfect for your Random Acts of Crochet Kindness makes and in fact, originated from the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness Facebook Group! To find out more about the movement and learn how Olivia Dieterich founded the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness movement, please click HERE Huge thanks to Sam Cloud for allowing me to film her pattern 🐛

Venomous snakes

I'll have to try to remember this if I ever encounter a rattlesnake. I seem to remember encountering one when I was a kid when we were camping in Penticton. Scared the life out of me.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — In a Phoenix-area venomous snake training course, the first thing students learn is that basically everything they thought they knew about rattlesnakes is a myth. For starters, rattlesnakes aren't aggressive. They don't rattle to warn that they're about to strike. And they definitely don't chase people. "They're not out to get us," Cale Morris of the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary told the class Tuesday. The sanctuary holds the class for the public and businesses in the spring, as rattlesnakes wake up from their winter-long naps, known in the reptile kingdom as brumation.

Love this idea for a bird feeder

"Amateur and professional birdwatchers will get a kick out of this feeder with a built-in camera. It gets up close and personal with any avian visitors, sending a phone notification when one lands, so he can watch them in real time. The camera itself is solar-powered, meaning there are no plugs or cords to hassle with. "

A sign of the times...a degree in Cyber Security

Sounds like an interesting program. Master’s degree in Cyber Security Are you interested in earning a Master’s degree in Cyber Security? Study 100% online with the University of London, with a programme designed to help you stay ahead in the rapidly changing field of cyber security and progress your career with CISO-ready skills. Why choose this programme? Flexibility: Work through the programme in your own time studying up to 2 modules per term. You have 2 to 4 years to complete all modules. Funding: Take advantage of the pay-as-you-go fee structure meaning you’ll only be charged for the modules you choose to take. Knowledge: Learn how to protect the fabric of society through a comprehensive set of modules, including Applied Cryptography, and Security and Behaviour Change. Hands-on learning: Understand how to connect academic and theoretical cyber security knowledge with hands-on lab sessions simulating real-life scenarios to gain practical experience. Faculty: Gain insights from pioneering and influential researchers, academics, and professionals from Royal Holloway’s Information Security Group. What could your future hold? Apply by September 9, 2024 to secure your spot.

The Granville Island Keg

We had a great meal with Donna yesterday evening. It's a place that doesn't disappoint. Jim and Donna had top sirloin and I had lobster. I can never get too much lobster.

A wonderful birthday dinner

Last night Richard and Grace took us out to Provence Marinaside for our birthdays. We always have a wonderful meal there and so great to be with them. Thank you so much!

Beachcombing taken to a whole new level

I always enjoyed beachcombing at our summer place on Gabriola Island even though I don't remember finding anything very spectacular. Sounds like John Anderson has been pretty lucky in finding treasures. From: Nice News Plenty of people enjoy spotting and snagging beach souvenirs — pretty shells, a sand dollar, perhaps. But for John Anderson, picking up treasures from the shore is more than a casual hobby. The Washington state resident has been beachcombing for nearly five decades, and he displays his countless finds in a makeshift museum that opens to visitors each summer. ​ His exhibits represent a vast world beneath the waves. He’s got thousands of colorful rubber buoys arranged into giant sculptural installations; a collection of Raggedy Ann doll heads from a container spill in the 1970s; a binder full of messages found in bottles; a juvenile gray whale skull; chains from medieval ships; and so much more. ​ “There’s a lot of history, and there’s a story in everything,” Anderson explained to NBC News of his passion for scouring the sand, adding: “One of the things that I never gave up from childhood was adventure.”

Times Square New Year's Eve

I remember a lot of people and I got rather spooked and we left before the ball dropped. We watched it on TV but could hear the crowd outside our hotel window. There certainly were a lot of people but a million did surprise me. Not quite sure why this post came up in the middle of the summer. From: Nice News "Every year as the clock nears midnight on December 31st, the eyes of the world turn once more to the dazzling lights and bustling energy of Times Square. New Year's Eve at the symbolic center of New York City has become more than just a celebration - it's a global tradition. As the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends from the flagpole atop One Times Square, about 1 million people in Times Square are united in bidding a collective farewell to the departing year and expressing joy and hope for the year ahead. Source: City of New York"

A "Walking Library"...love it!

[A "Walking Library" in London, circa 1930s] The concept of a "Walking Library" in London during the 1930s refers to individuals who would carry books with them and offer them to the public in various locations. These walking libraries were essentially mobile libraries, enabling access to books for people who might not have had easy access to traditional libraries. The idea was to promote literacy and the love of reading among the populace. Individuals acting as walking libraries would roam the streets, parks, and public spaces, lending books and sometimes even reading to those interested. This initiative was particularly valuable during a time when not everyone had the means or opportunity to visit a stationary library.

Looking through my images and this came up

Perhaps time to bake some peanut butter cookies but will wait until it gets a little cooler.

Leaf Legs

A very simple design but I think it's effective. Quite the price!

Sarah Crowner Leaf Legs (Blue), 2014 Acrylic on canvas and raw canvas, sewn 60 × 48 in | 152.4 × 121.9 cm Unique work Estimated value: $40,000–$60,000

A robot now has the record for solving Rubik's Cube

If you want to become the fastest human to ever solve a Rubik’s cube, you need to beat the 3.13 second Guinness World Record set by Max Park in June 2023. Unfortunately, you’ll need superhuman speed to outsolve the newly crowned fastest Rubik’s cube-solving robot. Earlier this month, a bot designed by Mitsubishi Electric engineers solved the iconic 3×3 block puzzle in the literal blink of an eye. At 0.305 seconds, the TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot (TOKUFASTbot) was so blisteringly quick that even the cube itself had difficulty keeping up with the machine.

Another panda for the San Diego Zoo

From: Nice News Last week, two pandas made a 7,000-mile journey from China to their new home at the San Diego Zoo, marking a milestone for panda diplomacy and an effort to improve the species’ resiliency. The pair, named Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, are the first to enter the United States in 21 years. ​ “We are incredibly excited to welcome Yun Chuan and Xin Bao to the San Diego Zoo,” Paul Baribault, president of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a press release. “This farewell celebrates their journey and underscores a collaboration between the United States and China on vital conservation efforts.” ​ Yun Chuan (pictured) is a nearly 5-year-old male whose name means “big river of cloud,” per Smithsonian Magazine. He’s the son of Zhen Zhen, who was born at San Diego Zoo in 2007, and is described by his caretakers in China as “kind, clever, and sensitive.” As for nearly 4-year-old Xin Bao, which means a “new treasure of prosperity and abundance,” she’s known to be a “gentle and witty introvert with a sweet round face and big ears.” Last week, two pandas made a 7,000-mile journey from China to their new home at the San Diego Zoo, marking a milestone for panda diplomacy and an effort to improve the species’ resiliency. The pair, named Yun Chuan and Xin Bao, are the first to enter the United States in 21 years. ​ “We are incredibly excited to welcome Yun Chuan and Xin Bao to the San Diego Zoo,” Paul Baribault, president of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a press release. “This farewell celebrates their journey and underscores a collaboration between the United States and China on vital conservation efforts.” https://click.convertkit-mail.com/mvunkz7w4lt5hgdnrxps9tevv62qqa3/48hvh7urlmlx9ocq/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc21pdGhzb25pYW5tYWcuY29tL3NtYXJ0LW5ld3MvdHdvLXBhbmRhcy1hcnJpdmUtYXQtdGhlLXNhbi1kaWVnby16b28tdGhlLWZpcnN0LXRvLWVudGVyLXRoZS11cy1pbi0yMS15ZWFycy0xODA5ODQ2MzYv

Borrow a book or perhaps a wedding dress

I continue to be amazed by what some public libraries do. From: Nice News At a library in New Jersey, visitors pop in for more than just books — brides also visit to try on and check out donated wedding dresses. The collection of gowns is curated by Adele Puccio, the director of Maurice M. Pine Free Public Library in Fair Lawn who started collecting dresses 20 years ago. “I always enjoyed vintage fashion,” Puccio told the Today show. ​ But rather than keep her bridal finds for herself, Puccio lends them out to brides-to-be. Her collection started as a word-of-mouth passion project, but “things exploded” earlier this year after a local paper published an article about Puccio and donations started pouring in. ​ Her once-typical stash of around 10 dresses has since expanded to an ever-growing collection of 100-plus gowns, as former brides from across the U.S. send in theirs in hopes of giving them a second life. “The sheer number of dresses that have gone out of here this year is incredible,” said Puccio. ​ Of the many dresses Puccio has donated over the years, one is particularly special: her very own from her 1985 nuptials to her late husband. “It should live again,” she said. “It’s better than sitting in a closet for all those years.”

Kleenex...who knew?

"As battlefield injuries grew, the cotton supply shrunk. The company Kimberly-Clark (future owners of the Kleenex brand) developed a substitute made from wood pulp and dubbed it Cellucotton. The new material was pitched to the U.S. surgeon general as a substitute for a cotton surgical dressing for war wounds and as a gas mask filter. Two employees developed the material after visiting European pulp and paper mills in 1914 and seeing that manufacturers overseas were using processed pulp to make something that could stand in for cotton." Source: Time Magazine

Frank Lloyd Wright working on a budget

From: SurfaceMag.com "The Download: In 1936, the writer Herbert Jacobs challenged Frank Lloyd Wright to design a high-quality house on a tight $5,000 budget ($111,000 today). Though he was accustomed to working primarily for wealthy patrons, the 69-year-old architect rose to the occasion and designed a modest, low-cost home that kickstarted a prolonged period of late-career innovation. His Usonian homes, referring to the term derived from “United States of North America,” responded directly to the landscape—they featured glass curtain walls, open-plan interiors, and natural materials like wood and stone. He’d go on to build more than 140 Usonian homes over his remaining two decades. They became prototypes for his utopian vision of Broadacre City and helped inform the ranch-style houses that populated postwar American suburbs. Though Wright envisioned his Usonian houses with middle-class Americans in mind, owning one nowadays will cost you. That was until Lindal Cedar Homes started selling “kits” inspired by Wright’s designs. The Seattle-based company allows Wright-inspired houses to be built quickly, affordably ($300,000 for a single kit), and with minimal waste. Each of Lindal’s nine house models was designed by Aris Georges, a Wisconsin architect who studied and taught at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and updated them to fit contemporary living standards. Ceiling heights, for example, were raised to nine-and-a-half feet—Wright preferred low-slung buildings—while interior grids were elongated, yielding more spacious interiors."

Robots serving up coffee at Starbucks

I wonder if they expect a tip :) The details: Naver's autonomous wheeled "Rookie" robots navigate the building's 36 floors to bring packages, coffee, and lunch to employees. Rookie bots are assisted by dual-armed "Ambidex" robots, which are lightweight and dexterous for safer human interactions. Both robots connect to the company’s ARC system, which enables control of navigation, planning, and processing for the entire fleet through cloud computing. Naver also developed RoboPort, a dedicated elevator system that allows robots to move quickly and efficiently between floors. Why it matters: Naver’s putting its robots to work in the ‘real world’ — and while the location is just a testing ground for now, it’s also a glimpse into how service robotics will be integrated into the mainstream sooner than many expect.

Sea otter

I love otters so glad to see this one was saved. "An orphaned female sea otter pup from the Tofino area is cared for at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society in Vancouver, BC Friday, June 28, 2024. PHOTO BY JASON PAYNE /PNG Article content Two weeks after it was rescued near Tofino, a sea otter pup is getting stronger every day, according to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Centre."

Volkwagen Beetle

This car always brings a smile to my face. I can't seem to upload a photo but I think everyone knows what they look like. MEXICO CITY (AP) — Janette Navarro’s 1996 Volkswagen Beetle roars as it barrels up a steep hill overlooking concrete houses stacked like boxes on the outskirts of Mexico City. She presses her foot on the pedal, passes a lime green Beetle like hers, then one marked with red and yellow, then another painted a bright sea blue. “No other car gets up here,” she said. “Just the vocho.” The Volkswagen Beetle, or “vocho” as it’s known in Mexico, may have been born in Germany, but in this hilly neighborhood on the fringes of Mexico City, there’s no doubt about it: The “Bug” is king. The Beetle has a long history in the country’s sprawling capital. The old-school models like these — once driven as taxis — used to dot city blocks as the quirky look captured the fascination of many around the world. It was long known as “the people’s car.”

A lovely dinner with Donna Sunday

We went to the Milltown Pub and Jim and I had their special prime rib. It was excellent. Then back to Donna's for ice cream.