Water Tower, Waterton

Posted on 07 June 2019 by Isabel Gibson

Years ago I read that we need the fractal nature of the natural world for our mental health. The argument, as I recall, was that our brains evolved in the complexity of the natural environment and need more stimulation than they get from the clean, straight lines that dominate our current built environment. An interesting proposition, no?

I have a hunch it was a Steven Pinker proposition, but when I tried to find it again I failed, so it’s only a hunch, not a definitive attribution. Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged | 6 Comments

Treadmill Face

Posted on 04 June 2019 by Isabel Gibson

Lying on my side, working through the clamshell exercises and side planks directed by my trainer, I stare sort of blankly at the treadmill frame.

Treadmill face as originally seenAfter a few weeks (OK, maybe it was a few months), I finally notice someone staring back at me. Someone who looks as if they belong in a Picasso painting.

Portrait viewof treadmill face

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Faces | Tagged | 6 Comments

Humour in Labelling – Part 2

Posted on 01 June 2019 by Isabel Gibson

Just read the label on my CoolGear can (with anchors design) from the Dollar Store.

Remember the funny/silly label on the pot roast? Barbara Carlson sent me the following label facsimile.

Cantrition Facts
Serving Size 16 oz (473 ml)
Nutrition per Serving
That’s up to you! 100%
 Materials
Hydrated 25 g 100%
Motivated 25 g 100%
Revitalized 25 g 100%
Energized 25 g 100%
BPA free . . . of course
A significant source of reducing, reusing and recycling
Graphic Ingredients
Anchor Addition: An Anchor here, an anchor there…oh dear they’re everywhere! Can you count them all?
www.coolgearinc.com  Any questions or comments? 1-800-386-3374
Barbara went on to say this . . .
Looked them up on the internet: “The certificate for this Website is invalid….”
But they do have a FB page: https://www.facebook.com/coolgearinc/

So there you have it. At least two companies are engaging in label behaviour they hope is engaging. Check out the labels near you.

 

Posted in Another Thing, Language and Communication, Laughing Frequently | Tagged | 6 Comments

Wineglass Reflections, Calgary AB

Posted on 29 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

I’ve happened upon some fun reflections of lights in windows. This was the first time I noticed a similar phenomenon in a wineglass.

I’m not sure I have the technical bits quite right (a little harder with a phone than with a camera, maybe). More research is clearly warranted.

Reflections in an empty wineglass

P.S. Happy birthday, Mom. I know you would have enjoyed helping with this research.

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Rain Roof, Calgary AB

Posted on 28 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

It likely happens more often than it should: I take a photo of one thing and get something else. Something I didn’t see.

The latest but likely not the last example is the light-standard reflections in the raindrops on a car’s rain/sun/moon roof in Sunny Alberta.

Surprise reflections in raindrops

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged , | 11 Comments

Of Flower Pots and Bling

Posted on 26 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

‘The Time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘to talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing wax,
Of cabbages and kings.
And why the sea is boiling hot
And whether pigs have wings.’
– Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter

For our Phoenix guests who don’t mind roads that go up and down and around curves and along crevasses all at the same time, the Pickle Barrel Trading Post in Globe is a fun destination. Continue reading →

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Built Stuff | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Magnolia, Ottawa

Posted on 24 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

Faithful readers will certainly know of my troubles with squirrels. Casual readers likely know. Heck, passers-by in the street probably have some idea.

The worst squirrel sin — of many — is what they do to the buds on my magnolia tree. Each Spring, just as I think that the tree is about to stun me with beautiful blooms, I get a shot as if from a stun gun: a tree stripped bare by these ravenous rodents. Continue reading →

Posted in Appreciating Deeply, Laughing Frequently, Photos of Flora | Tagged | 10 Comments

Feeding Time at the Zoo

Posted on 22 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

After watching great egrets for a while — they were preening on treetops, and flying in with nesting materials — I realized that some birds were a little ahead of the courting game. Some birds had already had their babies.

Mother and child? Well, anyway, it was a peaceful scene.

2-photo collage of great egret with chickPeaceful, that is, until the other parent got home.

4-photo collage of great egret feeding chicksNor was this a one-off reaction. Happy little families transformed into ravening hordes before my eyes wherever I looked.

4-photo collage of great egrets feeding chicksAnd speaking of eyes, I share the egret’s uncertainty. Given those juvenile beaks, is it better to go at it eyes closed or eyes open?

2-photo collage of great egret feeding chicks

 

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Photos of Fauna | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Movie #23: The Birds

Posted on 21 May 2019 by Isabel Gibson

As the birds swarm our newly installed backyard feeder, I think, of course, of Alfred Hitchcock‘s 1963 movie which introduced Tippi Hedren, mother to Melanie Griffiths, who, it must be said, doesn’t look like she’s had much work if any done on her face, unlike so many of her acting cohort.

But back to Hitchcock. Beyond his intentionally creepy on-screen persona in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I have a vague sense that Hitchcock was personally creepy, at least with young women wanting to be movie stars. Hollywood, after all. What are the odds? Continue reading →

Posted in Laughing Frequently, Nature Videos | Tagged , | 8 Comments