wordless Wednesday: corner glass

Striped Mosaic Picture Frame by Margaret Almon

photo and mosaic by Mosaic Woman

Jazz on Tuesdays---- where do stories begin?

I just watched a video of Neil Peart playing drums with the Buddy Rich Big Band. He was the drummer at the first concert I ever went to, which was way back in the day when I was a bit of a punk who loved a certain power trio called Rush.

When was it that I first listened to 2112, an LP purchased by an elder sister? Why did she by it, or did I?

Or was it hearing Fly By Night on the radio?



Where was I recently when I heard a documentary was made about Rush?

How did I reconnect with a friend from HS on facebook and why after all these years is his passion for Rush (and he is not alone out there) did he let all of us know that he had gone to see Rush in the same city I saw them 35 +/- years ago. Was it because he wanted me to remember to ad that DVD to my list at Netflix, so I just watched it and that is why I know he is not alone.





And I found out that Neil Peart had played with the big band.

But why did Buddy Rich's Daughter invite Neil Peart to play in a tribute concert, maybe because so many feel he is the best drummer... 4 straight years all types of drummers have voted him the best drummer.

Maybe he wants to get better, and so after that concert and bit disappointed with his performance, and while on tour with Rush he organized a way to get 20 of the best drummers in the world to be recorded with the Buddy Rich Big Band, and so, like I said, "I just watched a video..."


Of the first drummer (and best?) I ever saw swinging, because he so wanted to swing!

Science Mondays--- and how would they know such a thing

So I tell my students the speed of light and I hope for a question like... Why should we believe that? After all it moves at 299,792.458 kilometers in one second. The question I throw out, how is it possible to measure something that for all practical purposes moves at the rate of, instantaneous? Don't believe me, turn on a light bulb and try to see it go from the light to the wall.

I talk about Ole Christenson Romer who was puzzled at how a moon of Jupiter was not where it was supposed to be when it should be there and how it varied and how that variance was proportional to distance from the Earth and so in 1676 he concluded light had a constant speed.

Then we jumped to France and a man who went by Hippolyte Fizeau (cool names can get fading students to perk up) and with some mirrors came within 5% of the speed in 1849. Leon Foucault gets us within 500km/sec by adapting the experiment then an American named Michelson takes the same idea to much longer distances and gets it down to within 50km/sec by 1879. The story goes on until the final two steps in the process--- the laser and the exact distance of a meter.

Science unfolds just like our lives. It is a story of better evidence throwing out what needed tweaking. So we trust light moves fast, but a mystery is still there...

Why is it constant, if it remains in the same medium? But who knows, is it really constant? I have never measured it, but if it is not constant, that would throw astrophysicists for a spin. For now the evidence leans towards being constant.

Seven On Saturday... Verdant among us

Verdant mineral:





Verdant eyes:




Verdant roofing:



Verdant painter's tape:




Hydroponic Verdant:



Verdant Piano:



Verdant Weed:

Fridays in PA--- Longwood Gardens

On Wednesday I put up a wordless post of one cool door. Mosaic Woman and I had gone to see an orchid celebration:



at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA. The orchid room was filled, but orchids kept popping up here and there and then there was the massive hanging baskets...



I was introduced to Longwood when I was taking classes at Northampton County Community College (back in the day) when a botany class went on a field trip. Since we returned to PA, we have made several visits. We stumbled by it once to see it lit up for the holidays. I've taken students. And I have ventured their with a buddy who loves the place.

Oh, yes the mystery door. As you wind you way through the observatory one finds places for staff only. Most of the doors are nothing special. But I found the one featured on Wednesday to be quite unique. I love how they had to prune the plant to keep it from covering the handle.

Close to the room of orchids, is another of my favorite rooms--- The gray room:

Crafting on Thursdays- commissions don't need to be huge and can be blue

In a recent post, a friend speaks of how she would hire me to design a rose window if she ever gets that hermitage she desires. She knows that I do smaller commissions, because she has commissioned a piece that could fly to Rome inside a suitcase--- (Mosaic Woman blogged about that).

At one point in my life I would love to design a huge installation project, but I also find joy in folk asking me to create something to their liking. At Lansdale's Art festival, a friend saw a simple 4 piece design of mine done in green. She asked MW if I could do it in blue. Last night I did it from start to finish, and in the midst of starting a school year, I needed a small task. See a design you like, I can do it in any color you want, though I may be a bit low in mauve glass these days.

I used a blue glass, which is rather opaque, so it will look cool no matter which way the light is shining...





and from behind...




....

wordless wednesday... not your average door or what is on the other side?