chocolate manufacturing
I’m about to embark on a new career. Chocolate Factory Tour Guide.
Yes, just in time for Easter, I am joining a team of guides conducting school tours through a factory founded in 1906. Stations on the tour will include Chocology, history of the factory, visits to the active factory manufacturing lines and a stop at a special candy shop with discount prices.
Can you say ‘Creme Eggs?’
shark jaws photo : Lorie Pierce
Last year, I visited the new aquarium in my city 24 times (or roughly once every two weeks) thanks to a birthday gift of a yearly pass. It was an interesting exercise to visit an attraction so often, but at different times and with varied crowds of others. I took upwards of 1500 images and videos of the aquarium dwellers including staff cleaning the larger tanks from the inside.
There seemed to be something new to see every time. My favourite moments were when the octopus was moving (only 3 of the 24 visits), when cleaners were in the shark tank (2 visits), when the baby cuttlefish were born, when the sea dragons were being fed (one visit) and new bamboo sharks emerged from their egg case (2 visits).
A favourite activity was listening in on the expressions of children seeing live sharks, rays, sea turtles and sawfish for the first time.
cartoon by Maki Naro
Click on cartoon to enlarge.
Empress of Ireland 1905-1914
I’ve been thinking about this day for a long time. Now it’s here.
The 100th anniversary of a disaster and a personal family tragedy. Somehow, large number anniversaries are supposed to feel different, more poignant. But for me, I remember most this day in 1964 when I first became aware of the sinking of this ocean liner and the 1012 souls who were lost – including my great-great grandparents. I was the same age as my grandmother was when James & Ellen Faulkner (her maternal grandparents) were drowned as the ship sank in only 14 minutes after impact with a Norwegian coal vessel.
For years, I had imaged myself visiting the memorial outside Rimouski, Quebec. That will come, in time. Today I will head to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto were there is a memorial to some of those lost – members of a Salvation Army Band.
In this part of the world, it is usual to get a last wintery snow storm around St.Patrick’s Day. With a huge snow front about to belt the city, I offer an escape to a hot, sunny paradise.
This ……….
Cuba photo source : M. Lindenberg
Not this ……..
Winter just hangs on…so here is another tropical break.
poolside photo source : Lorie Pierce
The weather in this part of the world continues to be miserable……so for all those dealing with it as I am, here is a beach break.
Sol Cayo Coco, Cuba photo source : M. Lindenberg
This is a special time of year when gemologists, palaeontologists and geologists head to Tucson, Arizona for the annual Mineral & Gem Show. I am often guilty of dragging rocks home from vacation……basalt from Mt.Baker Washington, lava from Iceland, pumice from Mt.St.Helens and fossils from anywhere I can collect them (legally).
My travels are about to take me somewhere more sandy than rocky. But I will keep my eyes open for another unique and beautiful addition to my rock collection. Maybe this luggage tag will come in handy.
Paper dolls and toys were a staple of my youth.
Here is a Xmas project with a vintage feel that you can print at home. Cut out the pieces and place the clothes on the bear by folding back the tabs. Cut a slot in the hats along the dotted line and slip over the bear’s head.
Enjoy your Christmas Bear designed by Gayle Broadbent-Ferris. A writer, illustrator and conservationist. Use card weight stock (64 lb) for best results.
source : margitammentorp-blogspot.com
Two angel Xmas baskets based on butterfly wings. Although this blog has not been updated in a year, there are many fascinating designs and connections to locales in Denmark.
source : ROM
This is a portion of Xmas wrapping paper with patterns built of dinosaur bones. In this case : triceratops. But it could as easily be cut out to hang as a snowflake or printed as a seasonal card.
The museum is hosting the prestigious International Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards competition. A display of 100 top wildlife photos culled from 43,000 submitted. I am in awe of the split second action that has been preserved in shots of tigers fighting, a kingfisher returning to the nest and bears pulling salmon out of river rapids.
My awe is, in part, due to my recent attempts to take photos of aquarium animals on my weekly treks to the new aquarium. Some animals take well to being photographed and others are more challenging so I have been experimenting. Case in point are the cuttlefish. I am mesmerized by these intriguing creatures.
Here are some of my attempts to preserve their images.
cuttlefish – first encounter photo source : Lorie Pierce
A bit fuzzy, but good representation of the colours.
two weeks later photo source : Lorie Pierce
Still blurry as the animal is in constant movement.
pair of cuttlefish photo source : Lorie Pierce
Then I switched to the technique of using the stop action setting – illustrated on the camera as a ‘running person’. I did get a focused picture but you will see that not enough light got in.
not enough light exposure photo source : Lorie Pierce
In a recent video, photographer Rene Johnston discusses how to take the best photos in the aquarium, including wearing black and placing the lens right up to the glass of the tank.
http://www.thestar.com/photos/masterglass/2013/10/23/masterglass_ep21_aquariums.html
Look for me at the new aquarium in Toronto. Especially around the cuttlefish tank.
And check out the International Wildlife Photographer of the Year awards exhibit at
rom.on.ca @ROMbiodiversity #ROMwpy
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