“There’s not one thing that doesn’t point to it not being him,’
Stanko told The Associated Press.
Fate: That’s the only way to explain what led me to click on the headline for this story, but it became clear soon enough. Or, more accurately, completely unclear.
There’s not one thing
that doesn’t point to
it not being him.
Maybe breaking it down will help. Divide and conquer, that’s what we say, yes? All right, then. This is me, going in.
Whaddya mean, it’s almost too dark to play?
The golf course looks fine to me: not in high-noon sunlight to be sure, but perfectly clear. Yet the TV announcers are talking about the possibility of having to end the day’s play before the last players have completed their round. Something about them not being able to see where their golf balls land, or to see that perfectly obvious flag marking the hole on the green. What the heck?
Why does that flower look so washed out?
The flower in question looks fine when I pull the camera away from my face, but the view through the aptly named viewfinder is overwhelmed by light. Colours are faded; shadows are muted; contrast is lost. What the heck?
I have commented before on the embarrassing name of the hydrangea plunked beside our front step. I tolerate that defect because the shrub is so pretty when it flowers, because it flowers when most everything else in the garden has stopped doing so, and because it attracts wasps and butterflies. Oh, and an occasional bee in full sunlight.
Anyway, back to the Pinky Winky. This shot shows the ever-so-gradual progression from teeny white balls with just a hint of blush to pure-white blossoms to pink ones.
Keep sewage away from drinking water.
It doesn’t seem like an amazing idea, does it? I expect that you could get agreement on this point from all Canadians. It’s just something we know, you know? Hasn’t it always been this way?
No. It first started being a significant problem about 10,000 years ago when we stopped being primarily hunters/gatherers and began being farmers and dwellers in one fixed spot. Still, it was a long slog until someone had a better idea than getting excreta out of your dwelling by throwing it into the street – or, maybe, until they had the technology to implement that idea. It was 3000 B.C. before latrines were first linked to a city’s sewage system in what is now Pakistan, and it wasn’t until 100 B.C. that a Roman decree *required* city residents to use latrines connected to the sewage system that ran under the streets. Of course, in those pre-modern-medicine days, the incentive to use plumbing wasn’t better health: It was less smell.
However, progress is worse than slow: it’s fickle. After the fall of the Roman Empire, things went backward for quite a while. In mid-18th-century England, all the Brontë sisters died young from, at least in part, lifelong consumption of water contaminated by sewage. Oh, and by a local graveyard. Oh, yuck.
Ah, sweet misery/mystery of life, at last I found you: the misery index.
The misery index was initiated by economist Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960’s. It is simply the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate.
You can chart the US misery index by year since 1948 if’n you want to, with helpful dividers that show who was President when. Not that we’re into blame.
Some people say that unemployment causes more misery than inflation (1.7 times as much), but this fact — if fact it is — is not reflected in the index. It does, however, suggest where an individual ought to focus their own efforts to lower their personal misery index, especially since inflation seems to be out of anyone’s control.
This week Twitter brought me the horrific news (and video if I had wanted it, which I did not) of Russian guards castrating a Ukrainian Army officer and prisoner of war before murdering him via a bullet to the head. While I allow for the fog of war and the power of propaganda, this story seems to be true. Indeed, some say this event was not a one-of, but just the first to have a widely circulated video.
News like this could make anyone despair of humanity altogether. I am tempted to weep. I am tempted to go spit on the Russian embassy. I am tempted to turn away from the news. How can I stand to even hear about such atrocities? How can any of us?
“Shot by shot it looks great,” Avakian [film editor] reported to Evans [head of production, Paramount Pictures]. “Kubrick couldn’t get better performances, but it cuts together like a Chinese jigsaw puzzle. We spent two days in the restaurant with Pacino, Sterling Hayden, and Al Lettieri. Each take was great, but nothing matches. The [expletive deleted] [Coppola, the movie’s director] doesn’t know what continuity means.” [emphasis added]
– Fifty Years of The Godfather
Ooh, Mr. Kah-tuh, Mr. Kah-tuh! *I* know what continuity means, but I’m lousy at definitions so let’s go with Merriam Webster again.
Write what you know.
What does Google turn up for this sentence? Various attributions — Twain and Hemingway most frequently — none of them validated. Various takes on its meaning. Various opinions on whether it’s good or terrible advice for would-be writers.
Inexplicably, what doesn’t turn up — unless it’s several pages down — is my memory of a mid-term exam in political philosophy a lifetime ago. Nor does any discussion of how this advice relates to photography, likely because it hasn’t been written yet. Let’s rectify that now.
The place? Prescott ON.
The scene? The St. Lawrence riverfront.
The day? Gray.
air•borne (adjective)
1 : done or being in the air : being off the ground: such as
2 : trained for deployment by air and especially by parachute // airborne troops
We’ve all had enough of airborne 1c lately, at least with respect to viruses, so today, thanks to Merriam Webster, let’s talk about another kind of airborne: supported especially by aerodynamic forces.
In this category, the Big Guy notices aircraft; I notice dragonflies and birds. A trip to White Lake last weekend offered all three but I only got photos of the latter two. That was enough.
Dragonflies are close to hand, but a little skittish. Identifying them is not my long suit.
Possibly a female Canada Darner.
Possibly a Widow Skimmer.
By contrast, ospreys hang out for long periods in huge messy conglomerations of branches at the tippy-top of tall conifers (Look waaay up!) on uninhabited shorelines, accessible only by boat. A gently rocking boat. So, although they stick around for longer than the dragonflies, they present their own photographic challenges.
Definitely two osprey.
The sitting-in-the-deep-nest part isn’t particularly striking but the getting-into-the-nest part can be spectacular, as the osprey transitions from being airborne 1b to being tippy-top-tree-borne. Merriam Webster is silent on this latter adjective but you get the idea.
Posted: 2022 Oct 02
Isabel Gibson Follow
Blogger, writer, editor, retired proposal expert, birder, kayaker, grandmother.
Astounding. The only thing we can control is our attitude. #ViktorFrankl
Azovstal Defender Mykhailo Dianov tells what helped him hold on in 🇷🇺 prison. He is incredibly strong and brave.
This is part of a large interview. He also said that they were given stale bread and 30 seconds to eat it. After that they were forced to get up and run.
📹: Front18
I'm encouraging Alberta's amazing stable of tech #innovators to consider supporting this campaign and to spread the word thru your networks. All innovators are sisters/brothers under the skin. Or the uniform. #yegtech #agtech #cleantech #CAF @G2VOptics
The Canadian military community has lost an inspiring & accomplished officer, cherished friend, and loving mother. Please take a moment to read about Major Jessica Ross and consider donating to support her legacy of driving innovation in the RCEME Corps.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fail-forward-innovation-fund-for-maj-jess-ross
The Canadian military community has lost an inspiring & accomplished officer, cherished friend, and loving mother. Please take a moment to read about Major Jessica Ross and consider donating to support her legacy of driving innovation in the RCEME Corps.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/fail-forward-innovation-fund-for-maj-jess-ross
Dear You,
You belong here.
Yesterday.
Today.
And for all of your tomorrows.
Always yours,
@CAFinUS
#MentalIllnessAwarenessWeek #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
