Gullible, who me?

Well this is what the general reaction seemed to be when I retold a story that I had heard recently on the radio; they never lie do they?

The story is about an experiment where 32 metronomes are started at random, and over a period of a few minutes they synchronize themselves. It sounds a bit like magic to me, but it is the kind of magic I like. Here is a video of the experiment:

This apparently relies on the metronomes being placed on a movable surface, if they are left on a stable and static surface they remain unsynchronized. When I heard the story on the radio, they left out the part about the metronomes being on a movable surface, so maybe no wonder I was not believed.

So a lesson for us all, if we all move together, we can find harmony too.

Gullibility is an interesting word; defined as a failure of social intelligence in which a person is easily tricked or manipulated into an ill-advised course of action.

"It is closely related to credulity, which is the tendency to believe unlikely propositions that are unsupported by evidence. The words gullible and credulous are commonly used as synonyms." (Wikipedia)

"The verb to gull and the noun cullibility (with a C) date back to Shakespeare and Swift, whereas gullibility is a relatively recent addition to the lexicon. It was considered a neologism as recently as the early 19th century. The first attestation of gullibility known to the Oxford English Dictionary appears in 1793, and gullible in 1825. The OED gives gullible as a back-formation from gullibility, which is itself an alteration of cullibility." (Wikipedia)

On the subject of "gull"ible here are some pictures that I have taken of gulls recently.

Glaucous-Winged Gull

There were a few people fishing off the dock and the gulls were paying attention, just in case something tasty might come their way.

It was a windy day and some of the gulls were hovering and playing with the air currents. I was delighted to have the opportunity to catch some birds in flight.

California Gull?

"He was not bone and feather but a perfect idea of freedom and flight, limited by nothing at all.”  Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston Seagull

It was high tide and I liked the way the water was bubbling and gurgling around the wharf.

This young gull was not squawking noisily for food, but happy to sit and watch, and pose for the camera.

Same young gull as before, a bit of a coy look first and then giving me the eye.

There is a saying that sometimes you feel like a bird (I think it's about a pigeon) and sometimes you feel like the statue.

Well this week I felt like the "poopy" statue. My website was hacked this week and I have spent many hours on the phone to support staff trying to get the site fixed and off the "blacklist". Why do people do  this, for jollies, are they twisted (I think so)? I am now just waiting for Google to "clear" my website; are there any real people at Google, I have never heard of anyone that has actually talked to one!

I took today's pictures on a rare sunny afternoon; I have had lots of opportunity to test out my new waterproof shoes of late; they seem to be living up to that promise, but it is early in the winter still.

Here is a painting (watercolour) I finished this week, a Christmas theme again, called "Let it Snow":

And here's a watercolour, called "Fall Colour", dedicated to my friends in the USA, Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Thank you for stopping by, and a special thank you to those that take the time to leave comments for me.

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ...................