Touch!

This makes the para-sailing that Kate and I did as part of our Disney cruise look pretty tame! For that we were towed by a boat. This, on the other hand, is para-gliding and this adventurer didn't even need an airplane!

An Apple a Day

Here are some ideas of what to do with your daily apple.

Visualization of Tweets by Sunrise

Thinking that daylight is starting very early these days. #Midsummer

Moo!

This picture was recently tweeted. Do you think it was photoshopped?

Whistle a Happy Tune

Do you like to whistle? I do. When I was younger and busy with kids and dogs and volunteer duties I whistled a lot and probably drove my family bonkers. Now that I'm older I don't seem to whistle as much, but, like most people, there's always a tune of some sort running through my head and occasionally that whistle emerges. I especially like to whistle a made-up tune out of my own head, never knowing where it will end up. Sometimes it works out, sometimes not. Hopefully nobody was listening.

Until recently, when I saw an article in the paper, I never knew that there are actual competitions for whistlers. (Disclaimer: my whistling is definitely not in the competition category!) Some people can do amazing things when they wet their whistles.

Of course, there are different types of whistles:

• the palate whistle, where the tongue touches the palate
• the pucker whistle where the sound is formed with the help of muscles in the lips and cheeks
• the finger (one or two fingers inserted in the mouth) or wolf whistle, usually used to get somebody's attention (especially pretty girls by young men). This whistle tends to be only a couple of tones and I don't believe is suitable for "playing" a tune
• the cupped hands whistle: I learned this one as a young camper in the 50's when a counsellor encouraged us to make loon calls
• the blade of grass whistle: learned this as a kid and enjoy getting kids to try it since it makes a satisfying and most astonishingly loud noise (usually annoying to any adults within earshot). Technically the blade of grass becomes a reed, so it's not really a whistle at all.

What competitive whistlers have in common, besides musicality, are the most amazing tone and fluidity. They also have extensive range and delicate vibrato and some can even accompany themselves with a 2-toned whistle - a third or a fifth interval. All competitive whistlers practice a lot. One of the surprising (to me) elements about competitive whistling is that the entrants have sound tracks to accompany their performance, greatly enhancing the interest and depth of the performance.

Jeffrey Amos , a 38-year old Toronto man entered the 2013 International Whistler's Competition, held yearly in Louisburg, North Carolina,  this year for the first time and came out with second place! Here's the video of him at the competition:

Geert Chatrou is one of the best in the world:



 

It would be interesting to know whether the members of the orchestra consider him a fellow musician.

 

Here's the 2009 International Champion, Luke Janssen whistling: he seems to have a unique style that combines both pucker and palate whistling.

Vegetable Map

Go here, then click on the map and you will be able to see it more closely.

Nail House

Soon after I posted about the utility pole in the middle of the Quebec road, I read in the newspaper about this apartment building in China.

 

The owners are an elderly couple who are holding out for a better deal from the government. Apparently the phenomenon of a house left in the middle of the road is so common in China that there is a term for them: nail houses. The owners refuse to be hammered down and such houses stick up like a sore thumb and are difficult to remove. Often the government will cut off water and hydro to such homes, but in this case, such measures have not yet been taken. The man and his wife sleep in different parts of the building to deter demolition occuring when they're not looking.

 

The road itself has just recently been finished and leads to the railroad station. It has not yet been opened to traffic.



Driving Hazard

 

 

Crews have fixed the dangerous curve in the road, but for the last couple of months motorists still have had to avoid this hydro pole in the middle of Hwy. 251 in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Thankfully, it was finally removed just the other day. Snowplows will now be able to carry on unhindered.

Telephone Tree

 

 

This tree has been growing out of this phone box for awhile now - it's 3 meters high. It has recently been removed by Bell and repairs have been made to both boxes.

 



Toronto Star

Mystery Books

Using an old supply cupboard, an old telephone bell, some used books and some innovation and imagination, Craig Small in Toronto has created the Biblio-Mat, a vending machine for books inside The Monkey's Paw, a store ownded by Stephen Fowler on Dundas St.

The Biblio-Mat is a retro-looking device, with no window and no choice available. One simply inserts a toonie and a book emerges into the tray - and it's a mystery every time!

 

Here are the two clever guys:

 

 

from the Toronto Star

Vanilla Alert

Most people know that vanilla comes from Madegascar. Did you know that Mexico, India, Uganda and Indonesia also have vanilla crops?

About 70 to 80 % of the world vanilla crop comes from Madegascar (2000 tonnes annually) but it is under threat because of civil unrest (2009 coup d'etat) and falling prices for vanilla. Many farmers there are turning to other cash crops. Presently Madegascar food-grade, black vanilla pods go for $30 to $40 per kilogram, but back in 2003 the price hit a record $550 per kilogram of pods thanks to a hurricane that wiped out much of the crop on the island. Once the crops recovered the following year, the price fell and has stayed low ever since.

The low price of Madegascar vanilla is, in part, due to the emergence of natural and synthetic vanilla substitutes which have been filling the market. In addition, poor weather and drought conditions in Mexico (50 tonnes annually) India and Indonesia have decimated their crops and since production has fallen, the food industry is, instead, reaching for the synthetic alternative. Most synthetic vanilla is a by-product from the pulp used in paper-making.

David van der Walde, director of Aust & Hachmann, a Montreal-based vanilla importer, describes the world's vanilla market as "struggling at best".

Most people, reaching for a tasty treat of ice cream or baked goods only care that it tastes good and are not concerned about whether real vanilla or a substitute has been used in the treat's manufacture. Real vanilla may be going the way of the dodo to the loss of us all.

Unusual Bridge

This ingenious bridge was built in the Netherlands to allow people to cross the moat at a historical Dutch Fort. More information here.

5 Dangerous Things You Should Allow Your Kids To Do

So, I just noticed on Wisdom of the Moon's latest post, the reference to Gever Tulley's video on TED. I thought it was pretty interesting and that it might encourage more adventurous parenting in our society which seems to be increasingly protective of our kids. What do you think?



TED is a new find for me and I can see myself spending quite a lot of time learning about other "Ideas Worth Spreading".

Time Zone Confusion?

The other day Don found an interesting BBC News website about time zones. You can find it here. There is an interactive globe where you can see what strange things about time are happening in many countries around the world and the problems in vast countries such as Russia and China that expand across many time zones. The Communists, for example, decided that China would exist in only one time zone.

Other countries, such as Pakistan and Nepal have tailored their countries' time zones so that they are differentiated from India's.

There are other issues around the change to daylight saving time, with some countries opting in and others not. And even within some countries, some areas go with DST while neighbouring areas stay with standard time, creating confusion for inhabitants. Check out Australia and Indiana.

Newfoundland and Saskatchewan are not specifically mentioned, but most Canadians know, thanks to CBC Radio, that NFLD has its own time zone, half an hour ahead of Atlantic time or an hour and a half ahead of Eastern time. Meanwhile, Labrador uses Atlantic time with the exception of certain communities which align their time with Newfoundland. Saskatchewan chooses not to change to daylight time, so is out of sync, time-wise, with the rest of Canada between March and November.

By the way, for those of us who change our clocks twice a year, the dates to remember are the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. Spring ahead and fall back!

Earth Hour tonight: I want to turn off not just lights, but all power sources in our house between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. I want to feel how millions of people experience night-time all the time. I'll think about those in Japan who have lost their homes and their familiar way of life and I will feel grateful for our comforts and convenience here in Canada.

Getting Nosy

Ever been tempted to read someone's private diary? Now you can read the Diary of William Steinway, of the famous piano company family. He started it in 1861, just as the Civil War was getting underway and 3 days before he was married to his first wife. The Diary Project is the result of thousands of hours of research by about 100 volunteers, one of which was Diary donor, Henry Ziegler Steinway, until his death in 2008.

The National Museum of American History has made availaable an annotated online edition of William Steinway's diary at this amazing website. Each of the 2500 handwritten pages has been scanned and there are transcriptions, family trees and information, and historical perspectives.

Even if you don't have much time to spend on stuff that doesn't pertain to your daily life, it's worth at least one visit.

Aurora Borealis

Have a look at the northern lights in Finnmark, Norway