I am a number person. I count things, I see quantities as multiples (ie. this box is twice a big as that box). It just so happens that the year is finishing, and this is my 300th post to this blog. In 2007 I posted a paltry seven times. In 2008, it was 32 and in 2009, 85. Since then I have barely stopped jabbering but now, A Moment of Reflection:
This blog is one of my quiet joys, a place where I can record some thoughts and share them with people thoughtful enough to stop by my corner of the virtual neighbourhood. What a wonderful way to overcome the inherent isolation of living here in NB. And this little blog is so faithful and undemanding. It will sit neglected for weeks and still be waiting when a loud thought pops into my brain and is later forced out my fingers and into your neurons. Pretty wild when you really think about it, isn't it?
Believe it or not, I have rules about writing this blog. Such as:
1. Don't write in ridiculous over-thought prose.
One might consider asking oneself: did the word choice matter or was all choice merely an illusion? She digressed.
Ever since I read Orwell's "Politics and the English Language," the importance of plain speaking, and the uncessary pretence of too many Latin-based words have hit me like a lightning bolt. Just say it simply, and mean it. I try not to write if I don't have anything worth saying.
2. Personal blogs are not for me.
Discussing ideas and experiences in public with acquaintences rather than intimates is a very valuable and underrated process. I wish we lived in a world with more engaging conversations. I do enjoy some personal blogs but the thought of putting my life out there is actually pretty nauseating.
3. Keep it positive where possible and avoid overgeneralizing everything.
There are enough stereotypes, shallow news stories and shoddy thinking without me adding to the heap! People will never change their lives and our society if they aren't given a better alternative. How's that for a stereotyped, generalized statement?
4. Less is more
5. Proofread. And then proofread again. Try to mean exactly what you say, and nothing more.
I hope 2011 will bring you growth, joy, laughter, rest, work, love, and peace. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
MIT, for free
Some of us are learning junkies. I would count myself firmly in that category - I get so bored and restless if my neurons are not getting their proper workout. So I've heard about the MIT open-source courses, but until today I had never actually checked them out.
Basically, you can choose from a HUGE list of courses, their syllabi, reading materials, and in some cases, assignments, exams and solutions. And in many courses you can download all the things you need onsite. For free. That's right, no student loan, so 8:30am deadline, no excuses. It's all there for the taking, topics from Music and Theatre Arts to Theoretical Physics, Urban Studies and Special Projects.
Wouldn't it be incredible for Carleton County and New Brunswick to have groups of people working together on these courses? To have our leaders and teachers and citizens educated MIT-style while enriching life here with their knowledge and capacities?
Oftentimes, I think there is no 'payoff' for getting formally educated around here. You certainly won't find an experimental laboratory to pay your salary, nor is a master's degree particularly lucrative for most self-employed people. As someone counting the months until my student loan is history, I can say that debt is a tremendous deterrant to getting an education. However, being self-educated is of tremendous value in allowing a person to understand the world in which they live, and being able to shape it in a responsible and inspiring way for future generations.
I look back on the history of Woodstock and Carleton County and I see the things that our citizens accomplished: F.P. Sharp and his (successful) experiments in adapting apples to the short Eastern growing season, Tappan Adney and the preservation of the birchbark canoe, the people who built the beautiful and enduring Victorian houses.
What kind of culture will we pass on? A culture of learning, now at our finger tips for free; an insistence that feeding one's curiosity is a worthwhile pursuit? A legacy of quality work and craftsmanship, of practical innovations ? I hope so, because I think we deserve to live in a place which asks for, and values, the contributions of people who live here.
It's tempting to play the victim and pretend we're second class citizens, when actually, the problems are ours and so are the solutions. So get busy learning. We need you to educate yourself, we need to enrich each other, whether with MIT courses or by any means available.
P.S. Watch this link to the wonderful Sir Ken Robinson's commentary on the pitfalls of our industrial education system. Thanks Gill!
Basically, you can choose from a HUGE list of courses, their syllabi, reading materials, and in some cases, assignments, exams and solutions. And in many courses you can download all the things you need onsite. For free. That's right, no student loan, so 8:30am deadline, no excuses. It's all there for the taking, topics from Music and Theatre Arts to Theoretical Physics, Urban Studies and Special Projects.
Wouldn't it be incredible for Carleton County and New Brunswick to have groups of people working together on these courses? To have our leaders and teachers and citizens educated MIT-style while enriching life here with their knowledge and capacities?
Oftentimes, I think there is no 'payoff' for getting formally educated around here. You certainly won't find an experimental laboratory to pay your salary, nor is a master's degree particularly lucrative for most self-employed people. As someone counting the months until my student loan is history, I can say that debt is a tremendous deterrant to getting an education. However, being self-educated is of tremendous value in allowing a person to understand the world in which they live, and being able to shape it in a responsible and inspiring way for future generations.
I look back on the history of Woodstock and Carleton County and I see the things that our citizens accomplished: F.P. Sharp and his (successful) experiments in adapting apples to the short Eastern growing season, Tappan Adney and the preservation of the birchbark canoe, the people who built the beautiful and enduring Victorian houses.
What kind of culture will we pass on? A culture of learning, now at our finger tips for free; an insistence that feeding one's curiosity is a worthwhile pursuit? A legacy of quality work and craftsmanship, of practical innovations ? I hope so, because I think we deserve to live in a place which asks for, and values, the contributions of people who live here.
It's tempting to play the victim and pretend we're second class citizens, when actually, the problems are ours and so are the solutions. So get busy learning. We need you to educate yourself, we need to enrich each other, whether with MIT courses or by any means available.
P.S. Watch this link to the wonderful Sir Ken Robinson's commentary on the pitfalls of our industrial education system. Thanks Gill!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
It's a Man's World
If you're interested in places outside of North America, you've probably read some of Stephanie Nolen's excellent journalism. Listen to this excellent podcast - Nolen is a journalist who discovers the truth in large part by talking to women.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Your Hurtin' Heart
Many of you know my sister Tracy, the musical chameleon. She sings jazz, she plays the keys, she studied opera, she teaches many wonderful students 'round these parts. But before all of that, she was - wait for it -a country singer!
That's right folks, twang and slang and all those other things your English teacher tried to talk you out of.
As kids, we grew up with Dad singing "Hey, Good Lookin'," and we knew all the words to "Coat of Many Colours" before we left elementary school. Now Tracy is preparing to release her first ever CD recording - a project she has been dreaming of for years now. We like to joke that Tracy's having her first "baby" - and it will probably involve a similar amount of love, sweat and tears!
Yours truly has been accorded the golden opportunity to sing back-up and I am pretty tickled to step away from the keys and do my backwoods holler.
Look for the Hurtin' Hearts coming to a town near you soon. Check out the website to pre-order the CD and support the Heartin' Heart cause. The CD will be a mix of country/alt-country, jazz and blues, and will feature many fine Maritime musicians and artists.
Pre-order yours, make a donation and help Tracy take her country blues coast to coast!
That's right folks, twang and slang and all those other things your English teacher tried to talk you out of.
As kids, we grew up with Dad singing "Hey, Good Lookin'," and we knew all the words to "Coat of Many Colours" before we left elementary school. Now Tracy is preparing to release her first ever CD recording - a project she has been dreaming of for years now. We like to joke that Tracy's having her first "baby" - and it will probably involve a similar amount of love, sweat and tears!
Yours truly has been accorded the golden opportunity to sing back-up and I am pretty tickled to step away from the keys and do my backwoods holler.
Look for the Hurtin' Hearts coming to a town near you soon. Check out the website to pre-order the CD and support the Heartin' Heart cause. The CD will be a mix of country/alt-country, jazz and blues, and will feature many fine Maritime musicians and artists.
Pre-order yours, make a donation and help Tracy take her country blues coast to coast!
Monday, December 06, 2010
And then there were men
I remember a lot of things from the evening news I watched with dad when I was a kid. I was born in '82 and some of the things I saw as a youngster must have had quite an impact, because I still remember seeing them on the screen. The piles of bodies during the Rwandan genocide, countless elections, the Rio earth summit, the Quebec referendum, the Westray coal mine disaster - the nightly news was (and is) my father's lullaby.
Today is the 21st anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, which means I would've been seven when it happened. It feels strange to me that I can't remember seeing it on news, but for some reason there's a hole in my brain where those horrendous images could've been.
Last night I was thinking about all of this - the horrible reality of what those women faced on that day, and the subsequent battles over gun control (yes, the long gun registry goes way back to Ecole Polytechnique). It seemed, and still seems, so unbelievable to me that a man could be so enraged by female engineers that he would gun them down in cold blood. How could a seven year old make sense of that?
Growing up I was lucky enough to have parents who were both capable of cooking, cleaning, caring for people, piling wood and doing all the other things life required. For a time, my mother was very sick with cancer, and when she was, dad did it all, with the help of Grandmother and Grammie. Grandmother being such a feminist, and Mom being a natural tomboy, the gender roles were pretty fuzzy at home, and without any brothers we learned to do whatever was necessary to keep the fire going, feed ourselves, do our homework, and present ourselves in public.
In my late teens I became an ardent feminist because I didn't think most women were equal to men, and I didn't think most men treated most women as equals. The exception to all of this, of course, remained my parents, and even when I became interested in the idea that "the personal is political" in university, I did not feel it was fair to tar all men with the label of "oppressors." My father did not 'oppress' my mother, he cared for her when she was sick.
I've always found the 'feminist' discussion prickly - you know, that moment at a party when someone drops the 'f-bomb.' Inevitably, some eyes roll, others suddenly have to visit the bathroom, one or two people start raving, and the other people watch silently, waiting for it to be over. I've seen it many many times, and it doesn't seem to change whether the people are 15 or 50 years old. The arguments are so counter-productive, all it does it make people take sides. Nobody is thinking or really listening.
Now that I'm a little older, I have married into a family that is the mirror image of mine - all sons and no daughters, but where the boys were taught to take care of themselves so they wouldn't be dependent on a woman for their well being. I see them out shoveling my driveway, lifting heavy things repeatedly without resentment, being sensitive about things and having hurt feelings just like people in my own family.
And I also see them struggling with the idea of what it means to be a man, to win people's respect with work and money, but to do it in a way that engages women as equal partners and makes a positive contribution. It is not any easier on them than it is for women.
And I wonder when people will realize that patriarchy is a problem for men too - that it marginalizes their feelings the way it marginalizes women's work, that it invites miltarism and violence as the solution to all the world's problems, that only a few 'alpha dogs' will get the payoff while a room full of good men secretly wonder what's 'wrong' with them.
I think we could do a much better job as men and women to envision what kinds of families, workplaces and communities we really want to have. Worldwide, many women are still treated like cattle and it is the moral responsibility of women and men in privileged countries to stand up for them, and help with projects they have already started to improve their own lives.
Here at home, where women are legally equal, the lines are a bit blurrier. We certainly have a problem with missing Aboriginal and poor women - they are still disposable in our society. If the Montreal massacre had been the Moosonee Massacre and the victims 14 aboriginal women in Northern Ontario, would we still be remembering 21 years later? I'm not convinced.
I think we have a tremendously anti-woman government at the moment. Which I find so wierd, if for the sole reason that Stephen Harper's wife Laureen seems so worldly, educated and intelligent. While Harper was doing economic analysis, she was riding a motorcycle across Africa. And yet, they have removed 'equality' from the mandate of the Council for the Status of Women, and eliminated Supreme Court challenges under equality provisions. Not pro-woman policies, not in the least.
And Canada has a dismal, dismal, dismal, record on women participating in the political process. Rwanda is recovering from a genocide and now has more than 50% female parliamentarians. Here in Canada and in NB it's consistently less than 20%. When is the last time you saw a women premier or leader of the opposition anywhere?
So, twenty one years later, the Montreal Massacre still raises a lot of questions, and holds a mirror up to our society. I think individual Canadians do have a lot of respect for each other as women and men. My own experiences of sexism have been limited, thankfully, although I can tell you lots of second-hand stories. But I don't think individual respect can trump a system where some women are disposable, some men are marginal, and decisions about power and resources are still made in the 'interest' of men who don't exhibit a lot of caring for the world.
Although dates like this one do make good men feel bad, those good men feel bad because they would never do to their spouses, sisters and mothers what the killer did all those years ago.
But it can happen in Canada, and it did. To remember the women is to dignify the memory of those who have passed. It reminds each one of us that peace starts at home and at work and will only come from our own committment and dedication. It will never be legislated, it will never be financed and that is precisely what makes it valuable.
Today is the 21st anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, which means I would've been seven when it happened. It feels strange to me that I can't remember seeing it on news, but for some reason there's a hole in my brain where those horrendous images could've been.
Last night I was thinking about all of this - the horrible reality of what those women faced on that day, and the subsequent battles over gun control (yes, the long gun registry goes way back to Ecole Polytechnique). It seemed, and still seems, so unbelievable to me that a man could be so enraged by female engineers that he would gun them down in cold blood. How could a seven year old make sense of that?
Growing up I was lucky enough to have parents who were both capable of cooking, cleaning, caring for people, piling wood and doing all the other things life required. For a time, my mother was very sick with cancer, and when she was, dad did it all, with the help of Grandmother and Grammie. Grandmother being such a feminist, and Mom being a natural tomboy, the gender roles were pretty fuzzy at home, and without any brothers we learned to do whatever was necessary to keep the fire going, feed ourselves, do our homework, and present ourselves in public.
In my late teens I became an ardent feminist because I didn't think most women were equal to men, and I didn't think most men treated most women as equals. The exception to all of this, of course, remained my parents, and even when I became interested in the idea that "the personal is political" in university, I did not feel it was fair to tar all men with the label of "oppressors." My father did not 'oppress' my mother, he cared for her when she was sick.
I've always found the 'feminist' discussion prickly - you know, that moment at a party when someone drops the 'f-bomb.' Inevitably, some eyes roll, others suddenly have to visit the bathroom, one or two people start raving, and the other people watch silently, waiting for it to be over. I've seen it many many times, and it doesn't seem to change whether the people are 15 or 50 years old. The arguments are so counter-productive, all it does it make people take sides. Nobody is thinking or really listening.
Now that I'm a little older, I have married into a family that is the mirror image of mine - all sons and no daughters, but where the boys were taught to take care of themselves so they wouldn't be dependent on a woman for their well being. I see them out shoveling my driveway, lifting heavy things repeatedly without resentment, being sensitive about things and having hurt feelings just like people in my own family.
And I also see them struggling with the idea of what it means to be a man, to win people's respect with work and money, but to do it in a way that engages women as equal partners and makes a positive contribution. It is not any easier on them than it is for women.
And I wonder when people will realize that patriarchy is a problem for men too - that it marginalizes their feelings the way it marginalizes women's work, that it invites miltarism and violence as the solution to all the world's problems, that only a few 'alpha dogs' will get the payoff while a room full of good men secretly wonder what's 'wrong' with them.
I think we could do a much better job as men and women to envision what kinds of families, workplaces and communities we really want to have. Worldwide, many women are still treated like cattle and it is the moral responsibility of women and men in privileged countries to stand up for them, and help with projects they have already started to improve their own lives.
Here at home, where women are legally equal, the lines are a bit blurrier. We certainly have a problem with missing Aboriginal and poor women - they are still disposable in our society. If the Montreal massacre had been the Moosonee Massacre and the victims 14 aboriginal women in Northern Ontario, would we still be remembering 21 years later? I'm not convinced.
I think we have a tremendously anti-woman government at the moment. Which I find so wierd, if for the sole reason that Stephen Harper's wife Laureen seems so worldly, educated and intelligent. While Harper was doing economic analysis, she was riding a motorcycle across Africa. And yet, they have removed 'equality' from the mandate of the Council for the Status of Women, and eliminated Supreme Court challenges under equality provisions. Not pro-woman policies, not in the least.
And Canada has a dismal, dismal, dismal, record on women participating in the political process. Rwanda is recovering from a genocide and now has more than 50% female parliamentarians. Here in Canada and in NB it's consistently less than 20%. When is the last time you saw a women premier or leader of the opposition anywhere?
So, twenty one years later, the Montreal Massacre still raises a lot of questions, and holds a mirror up to our society. I think individual Canadians do have a lot of respect for each other as women and men. My own experiences of sexism have been limited, thankfully, although I can tell you lots of second-hand stories. But I don't think individual respect can trump a system where some women are disposable, some men are marginal, and decisions about power and resources are still made in the 'interest' of men who don't exhibit a lot of caring for the world.
Although dates like this one do make good men feel bad, those good men feel bad because they would never do to their spouses, sisters and mothers what the killer did all those years ago.
But it can happen in Canada, and it did. To remember the women is to dignify the memory of those who have passed. It reminds each one of us that peace starts at home and at work and will only come from our own committment and dedication. It will never be legislated, it will never be financed and that is precisely what makes it valuable.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Every Seven Years
The number seven is surrounded by myths - I've heard that every seven years, we replace all the cells in our bodies, and become entirely new people. In the Bible, the seventh year was the "shabbat" or "ceasing" for the Jewish people, as God decreed:
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: 2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. 3For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
In May, it will be seven years since I graduated from university. Since then, I bought a house, worked 5 jobs simultaneously, founded a concert series, a non-profit, an arts festival and assisted with more volunteer projects than I can count (or remember!!). I have loved them all, but I feel tired in my bones.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the wisdom of Earth's self-sustaining systems. When something gets out of whack, the Earth's feedback loops put it back into balance. Without human intervention, living things have everything they need, and are connected in a web that doesn't 'waste' anything. This is beautiful, and what could be a more fitting model for our own lives?
Hence, in May I will be on Sabbatical from volunteer projects - one year to rest, let myself recharge, not expect anything other than what grows without cultivation. I am not quitting, I'm invested in community for the long haul. However, I would like to arrive at the finish line knowing that I took the time I needed to do my best work.
The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: 2Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the Lord. 3For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; 4but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard.
In May, it will be seven years since I graduated from university. Since then, I bought a house, worked 5 jobs simultaneously, founded a concert series, a non-profit, an arts festival and assisted with more volunteer projects than I can count (or remember!!). I have loved them all, but I feel tired in my bones.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about the wisdom of Earth's self-sustaining systems. When something gets out of whack, the Earth's feedback loops put it back into balance. Without human intervention, living things have everything they need, and are connected in a web that doesn't 'waste' anything. This is beautiful, and what could be a more fitting model for our own lives?
Hence, in May I will be on Sabbatical from volunteer projects - one year to rest, let myself recharge, not expect anything other than what grows without cultivation. I am not quitting, I'm invested in community for the long haul. However, I would like to arrive at the finish line knowing that I took the time I needed to do my best work.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Welcome to Bertie County
Watch this video. It has some parallels with Carleton County, and specifically with our downtown and how design can work towards the revitalization process.
Town Council needs to initiate a process that designs the downtown with the people of Woodstock, not just tells them what they're "getting."
Town Council needs to initiate a process that designs the downtown with the people of Woodstock, not just tells them what they're "getting."
Monday, November 01, 2010
Your morning thought
Have you seen the face of a philosopher lately? I really enjoyed these photos and the comments of the thinkers. Sometimes I feel like we are afraid of ideas.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Why I'm running
I am now officially a candidate for Woodstock Town Council. There is one seat available in the byelection on November 15th - and four candidates. I am nervous about my first election but I'm also pleased that there are four people running. It means people care about our town, and that voters will have some susbtantial choices to make.
Here is the long version of why I'm running. If you're the speed-read type just skip to the end.
Woodstock is a beautiful heritage town. And if you said that in a crowded room, most heads would nod in agreement. But I don't think we always believe that Woodstock has the potential to be a great town - a lively town with people greeting each other on the streets, where local businesses are thriving, where local food is served every day, a place where each business, house and street corner show the care and pride people have in their hometown. I love living here, but I think we can do better. And I don't mean that as an insult to the people who volunteer countless hours of time to serve their fellow residents. But if we don't push ahead, we risk falling behind.
Over the course of the next month, I'll be blogging about some ways that Woodstock can go beyond the status quo and build a reputation based on its past, present, and vision for the future. Please leave comments, suggestions, points for debate. If we want to improve our hometown, it's up to us.
My main concerns:
1. The current state of our downtown.
We need all the partners: Chamber of Commerce, Farm Market, Woodstock Tourism, RiVA, and all interested community members. Good solutions come from people participating in a process that respects their intelligence and goodwill. The community is the expert, I've seen processes like this in action already. We have a lovely waterfront. Let's stop driving through it and get people out to enjoy it!
2. Our zoning rules.
This is a super-nerd issue but actually affects almost everyone in our town. We need to be moving towards mixed-use neighbourhoods that are walkable, where people can operate small businesses in their homes. In a small town, small businesses are absolutely vital.
3. Vision for the future.
Woodstock is a very well-managed town. Financially, we're doing well even in the midst of a recession. That is great news, but we can't afford to spend all of our energy balancing books and neglecting discussion about what kind of town we want Woodstock to be in 5, 10 or 15 years. We need to figure out innovative ways to promote Woodstock to our local region/provincially and to bring new people and businesses here, based on the strengths we already have.
Solutions will come from dedicated people working together. It won't be easy and it will take a lot of time. But Town Council has a crucial role to play in leading these processes, and in encouraging people to work together. I care very much about organizing a team of people who want to see Woodstock thrive. It will happen if we all play a part.
Here is the long version of why I'm running. If you're the speed-read type just skip to the end.
Woodstock is a beautiful heritage town. And if you said that in a crowded room, most heads would nod in agreement. But I don't think we always believe that Woodstock has the potential to be a great town - a lively town with people greeting each other on the streets, where local businesses are thriving, where local food is served every day, a place where each business, house and street corner show the care and pride people have in their hometown. I love living here, but I think we can do better. And I don't mean that as an insult to the people who volunteer countless hours of time to serve their fellow residents. But if we don't push ahead, we risk falling behind.
Over the course of the next month, I'll be blogging about some ways that Woodstock can go beyond the status quo and build a reputation based on its past, present, and vision for the future. Please leave comments, suggestions, points for debate. If we want to improve our hometown, it's up to us.
My main concerns:
1. The current state of our downtown.
We need all the partners: Chamber of Commerce, Farm Market, Woodstock Tourism, RiVA, and all interested community members. Good solutions come from people participating in a process that respects their intelligence and goodwill. The community is the expert, I've seen processes like this in action already. We have a lovely waterfront. Let's stop driving through it and get people out to enjoy it!
2. Our zoning rules.
This is a super-nerd issue but actually affects almost everyone in our town. We need to be moving towards mixed-use neighbourhoods that are walkable, where people can operate small businesses in their homes. In a small town, small businesses are absolutely vital.
3. Vision for the future.
Woodstock is a very well-managed town. Financially, we're doing well even in the midst of a recession. That is great news, but we can't afford to spend all of our energy balancing books and neglecting discussion about what kind of town we want Woodstock to be in 5, 10 or 15 years. We need to figure out innovative ways to promote Woodstock to our local region/provincially and to bring new people and businesses here, based on the strengths we already have.
Solutions will come from dedicated people working together. It won't be easy and it will take a lot of time. But Town Council has a crucial role to play in leading these processes, and in encouraging people to work together. I care very much about organizing a team of people who want to see Woodstock thrive. It will happen if we all play a part.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Doubt, and Faith
There is a lot on my mind lately. It all seems to swim around in there, enough to keep me distracted but nothing pronounced enough to really put my finger on. Very hard to characterize. Maybe my brain is imitating the seasons, which are hinting at winter but not quite there yet.
One thing I am preoccupied with at the moment is the suffering and lack of resources poor people face. In Carleton County we have lots of individuals and families who don't have warm clothes or food for winter, and who do not have jobs with dignity. I accept that this is 'the way it is' but I certainly don't like it. There IS enough in this world to go around, and the fact that things are so unequally distributed hurts makes me angry sometimes.
At the same time, I had the tremendous fortune to see Jacob Deng speak at Fusion on Saturday night. He is one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan who left during the midst of a civil war. He never saw his parents again, and now as a refugee living in Halifax, is doggedly working to improve the lives of Sudanese in his home village.
Listening to him talk was eerie: he is only two years older than I am, and as he spoke, I tried to picture Debec in the middle of a civil war. I imagined leaving there with the knowledge that my family members would likely be killed. He was seven years old when he left. But he stood in front of the small crowd and talked about how urgent the need is for primary education in his village, how people have the right (and the need) to make something of themselves.
Like people in Carleton County, they need basic resources, training and education in order to be able to build a better life for themselves. Different place, but the same story in many ways. I work a lot with children and I see the tremendous potential in them, like little seeds. I work in community organizing, and I see how progress is made slowly, like a garden that increases in productivity each year. And when I stop and think about the obstacles faced by so many good people the world over, I honestly think it's a miracle we even have a "society" at all. I guess it's a testament that human beings are social, like our primate cousins.
But at the same time, I would like to see a society with more cooperation, with more caring and less materialism. And I'd really like to see laws that keep some people from dominating those who are vulnerable, both physically and economically. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I will do what I can, build peace in my own life and home and encourage others to do the same. Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.
One thing I am preoccupied with at the moment is the suffering and lack of resources poor people face. In Carleton County we have lots of individuals and families who don't have warm clothes or food for winter, and who do not have jobs with dignity. I accept that this is 'the way it is' but I certainly don't like it. There IS enough in this world to go around, and the fact that things are so unequally distributed hurts makes me angry sometimes.
At the same time, I had the tremendous fortune to see Jacob Deng speak at Fusion on Saturday night. He is one of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan who left during the midst of a civil war. He never saw his parents again, and now as a refugee living in Halifax, is doggedly working to improve the lives of Sudanese in his home village.
Listening to him talk was eerie: he is only two years older than I am, and as he spoke, I tried to picture Debec in the middle of a civil war. I imagined leaving there with the knowledge that my family members would likely be killed. He was seven years old when he left. But he stood in front of the small crowd and talked about how urgent the need is for primary education in his village, how people have the right (and the need) to make something of themselves.
Like people in Carleton County, they need basic resources, training and education in order to be able to build a better life for themselves. Different place, but the same story in many ways. I work a lot with children and I see the tremendous potential in them, like little seeds. I work in community organizing, and I see how progress is made slowly, like a garden that increases in productivity each year. And when I stop and think about the obstacles faced by so many good people the world over, I honestly think it's a miracle we even have a "society" at all. I guess it's a testament that human beings are social, like our primate cousins.
But at the same time, I would like to see a society with more cooperation, with more caring and less materialism. And I'd really like to see laws that keep some people from dominating those who are vulnerable, both physically and economically. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I will do what I can, build peace in my own life and home and encourage others to do the same. Nobody can do everything, but everybody can do something.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Music: An Endangered Species?
I am concerned. Every now and then I hear about 'a study' that says that such-and-such a percentage of species in a certain region is disappearing. The last stat I can remember is 1 in 5 species face extinction in the next generation. Meaning 20% of everything alive in that region will cease to exist, with largely unknown consequences for the natural world.
And that bothers me, make no mistake. But I am also concerned about music and whether live music (and acoustic music in particular) should be on our culturally endangered list. Here are some of the reasons I worry about this:
1. Digital gadgets are so easy to manipulate and offer instant gratification. (think Guitar Hero)
2. Music is 'free' now.
3. Getting good at an instrument requires discipline and time, both of which seem elusive these days.
4. There are less and less venues for live music, that pay less and less money.
5. Our education system no longer supports quality music education for young people.
6. Community choirs and bands are becoming a relic of the past. Even military bands are struggling. So are many symphony orchestras.
7. Ordinary people no longer dance in public.
Of course there are exceptions, with the megastars always shape-shifting into something profitable. But by and large musicians are a disappearing breed.
I do a lot of conducting and it's getting harder all the time to find musicians with the skills needed to play in a pit band. Every church used to have a choir, and now, even in a religious town like Woodstock, to the best of my knowledge only 2 choirs sing every week for the congregation. Now there are lots of guitar heros out there but few people who can tell a trumpet or trombone apart, either by sight or by sound.
It's hard to find the words to explain why these types of situations bother me: maybe because I see the joy music brings to people of all ages and backgrounds, maybe I think about the role music plays in my life and see what a tremendous gift it continues to be, maybe because I believe that music is cultural 'glue' that keeps us connected to each other, and to our past.
And somehow, I don't think that karaoke and Guitar Hero are sufficient substitutes for real people making real soundwaves of their own accord. I worry about the songs we will lose, the times people will spend sitting at home alone instead of with friends, the elders who won't have any musical consolation in their old age. We are losing our native species - not just plants and animals, but tunes and the culture that goes with them.
Many children I teach no longer know the world to "Old MacDonald" or "Three Blind Mice." This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's hard to build musicians from people who don't even know what their parents' singing voices sound like. And it's even harder to see how this decline can be reversed in an age of drive-thrus and ringtones. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hanging up my musical hat. But I see it, and I worry.
And that bothers me, make no mistake. But I am also concerned about music and whether live music (and acoustic music in particular) should be on our culturally endangered list. Here are some of the reasons I worry about this:
1. Digital gadgets are so easy to manipulate and offer instant gratification. (think Guitar Hero)
2. Music is 'free' now.
3. Getting good at an instrument requires discipline and time, both of which seem elusive these days.
4. There are less and less venues for live music, that pay less and less money.
5. Our education system no longer supports quality music education for young people.
6. Community choirs and bands are becoming a relic of the past. Even military bands are struggling. So are many symphony orchestras.
7. Ordinary people no longer dance in public.
Of course there are exceptions, with the megastars always shape-shifting into something profitable. But by and large musicians are a disappearing breed.
I do a lot of conducting and it's getting harder all the time to find musicians with the skills needed to play in a pit band. Every church used to have a choir, and now, even in a religious town like Woodstock, to the best of my knowledge only 2 choirs sing every week for the congregation. Now there are lots of guitar heros out there but few people who can tell a trumpet or trombone apart, either by sight or by sound.
It's hard to find the words to explain why these types of situations bother me: maybe because I see the joy music brings to people of all ages and backgrounds, maybe I think about the role music plays in my life and see what a tremendous gift it continues to be, maybe because I believe that music is cultural 'glue' that keeps us connected to each other, and to our past.
And somehow, I don't think that karaoke and Guitar Hero are sufficient substitutes for real people making real soundwaves of their own accord. I worry about the songs we will lose, the times people will spend sitting at home alone instead of with friends, the elders who won't have any musical consolation in their old age. We are losing our native species - not just plants and animals, but tunes and the culture that goes with them.
Many children I teach no longer know the world to "Old MacDonald" or "Three Blind Mice." This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it's hard to build musicians from people who don't even know what their parents' singing voices sound like. And it's even harder to see how this decline can be reversed in an age of drive-thrus and ringtones. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hanging up my musical hat. But I see it, and I worry.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Saying NO to the Yes Men
So, long time no blog. Busy with other things, like getting married. (See the other blog for that.)
The provincial election is coming. Consensus seems to be that New Brunswickers are trying to pick the candidates that offend them the least. The two major parties are making tons of unrealistic promises, sniping at each other, hiking their own salaries and pensions, and generally demoralizing the population. A couple of thoughts on this situation:
First, everyone loves to complain about politicians but few good people actually take the plunge to get involved in politics. There is something about politics that attracts narcissists, and we seem to have become captivated by personalities (ie. David Alward's lack of public speaking finesse) than by policies. Sometimes I wonder if all the complaining just keeps the good people afraid of trying to change things.
Secondly, party leaders have a lot of power, especially when their MLA's are mostly 'yes men.' Or 'yes women.' The NB Power sale was a great example of how the Premier made a decision and then told his MLA's that they'd better shut up or toe the line.
I would propose that the best way to vote is to choose the candidate who is the most knowledgeable, an independent thinker, and a person who has integrity. I don't think it matters one iota which party that person belongs to. Because at the end of the day, you need somebody in the legislature who understands that power is a double-edged sword.
We need MLA's who will stand up to a poor leader and tell him or her, 'this is a bad decision, I won't support it, kick me out if you have to,' are the people who will put the common good ahead of personal gain. Debating about policies and ideas forces people to sharpen their arguments and sharpen their thinking. We are experiencing a painful lack of practical ideas and sharp thinking from the red-and-blue teams.
Nerd Alert: I am an info junkie, and yesterday when the Elections NB flyer arrived, I looked it over a few times. It was really interesting because every single candidate in the province had to list their occupation. Some were career politicians, and listed their occupation as "MLA." Personally, I find this a bit scary, but okay.
Did you know Shawn Graham identifies himself as a 'businessman?' And that the People's Alliance of NB has a lot of 'trucker' candidates? Many NDP candidates are retired, and that many Liberal candidates are businesspeople or consultants? The Green Party candidates were by far the most unconventional: early childhood educator, recording engineer, media monitor, fisherman, air traffic controller, mother.
So these are the people who want to represent us. They're also the people who will or won't take orders from 'the boss,' who ever may end up with that title.
The provincial election is coming. Consensus seems to be that New Brunswickers are trying to pick the candidates that offend them the least. The two major parties are making tons of unrealistic promises, sniping at each other, hiking their own salaries and pensions, and generally demoralizing the population. A couple of thoughts on this situation:
First, everyone loves to complain about politicians but few good people actually take the plunge to get involved in politics. There is something about politics that attracts narcissists, and we seem to have become captivated by personalities (ie. David Alward's lack of public speaking finesse) than by policies. Sometimes I wonder if all the complaining just keeps the good people afraid of trying to change things.
Secondly, party leaders have a lot of power, especially when their MLA's are mostly 'yes men.' Or 'yes women.' The NB Power sale was a great example of how the Premier made a decision and then told his MLA's that they'd better shut up or toe the line.
I would propose that the best way to vote is to choose the candidate who is the most knowledgeable, an independent thinker, and a person who has integrity. I don't think it matters one iota which party that person belongs to. Because at the end of the day, you need somebody in the legislature who understands that power is a double-edged sword.
We need MLA's who will stand up to a poor leader and tell him or her, 'this is a bad decision, I won't support it, kick me out if you have to,' are the people who will put the common good ahead of personal gain. Debating about policies and ideas forces people to sharpen their arguments and sharpen their thinking. We are experiencing a painful lack of practical ideas and sharp thinking from the red-and-blue teams.
Nerd Alert: I am an info junkie, and yesterday when the Elections NB flyer arrived, I looked it over a few times. It was really interesting because every single candidate in the province had to list their occupation. Some were career politicians, and listed their occupation as "MLA." Personally, I find this a bit scary, but okay.
Did you know Shawn Graham identifies himself as a 'businessman?' And that the People's Alliance of NB has a lot of 'trucker' candidates? Many NDP candidates are retired, and that many Liberal candidates are businesspeople or consultants? The Green Party candidates were by far the most unconventional: early childhood educator, recording engineer, media monitor, fisherman, air traffic controller, mother.
So these are the people who want to represent us. They're also the people who will or won't take orders from 'the boss,' who ever may end up with that title.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Working for the Weekend
Friday came in full-swing, with good crowds under the tent at lunchtime and a fabulous performance by the Monquartet, which is a folk group composed mainly of Johnvillians. Special folk, those Johnvilians!! Speaking of which, they're playing at the beautiful Bath Meeting House next Wednesday so take your Sunday drive a few days early and go check them out. You won't be disappointed - their Led Zepplin renditions are particularly good. But I digress....
Then notable country gospel group Side Effects breezed in, playing for a great crowd for over an hour. They were graced with a group of audience members from Woodstock Fun Park, and the kids danced, listened and decorated under the tent with sidewalk chalk while the adults enjoyed the river breeze, toes tapping.
We broke for a quick supper (super Dean strikes again) and the evening kicked off in fine style with NB Country Music Hall of Fame-r Al Dupuis and bassist par excellence Will Davidson warming up the crowd. They were followed by New Denmarkian (New Dane?? New Denmarkite??) guitarist Jens Jeppesen, who brings the fire as only he can. Thanks for the kind words Jens, but you didn't need my help getting gigs. The music speaks for itself.
Following Jens was Juno award winner Old Man Luedecke, who actually looks quite baby-faced in person. He stomped, he sang, people listened, a few danced and at the end we demanded an encore. It's difficult to describe how special it was for me to see a musician I've so admired come to play in my hometown, in part because of time and effort I put in. Beauty speaks for itself, even in this crazy virtual mechanized world we live in. And it was a beautiful performance, without a doubt. In my opinion, the Old Man is one of the finest songwriters working today and has a lyrical aptitude on par with Bob Dylan or Neil Young. Not to mention the soul of a poet.
After pulling myself together I made it up to Dooly's to hear Lonesome Jim wrap up: he can still giv'r, as we say around here, despite 25+ years in public education. That's a FEAT, let me tell you. I lasted three years, and even now I can't giv'r like he can. Way to go Jim, when people are looking for a show you certainly don't dissapoint~! And Fusion was home to Beth Tait and her band. Rumour has it the beers were being ordered two at a time, that's how much fun people had. Cheers to that :)
Get ready for a long post on Saturday, it exceeded my expectations. Which is so nice when you spend nearly a year planning!
Then notable country gospel group Side Effects breezed in, playing for a great crowd for over an hour. They were graced with a group of audience members from Woodstock Fun Park, and the kids danced, listened and decorated under the tent with sidewalk chalk while the adults enjoyed the river breeze, toes tapping.
We broke for a quick supper (super Dean strikes again) and the evening kicked off in fine style with NB Country Music Hall of Fame-r Al Dupuis and bassist par excellence Will Davidson warming up the crowd. They were followed by New Denmarkian (New Dane?? New Denmarkite??) guitarist Jens Jeppesen, who brings the fire as only he can. Thanks for the kind words Jens, but you didn't need my help getting gigs. The music speaks for itself.
Following Jens was Juno award winner Old Man Luedecke, who actually looks quite baby-faced in person. He stomped, he sang, people listened, a few danced and at the end we demanded an encore. It's difficult to describe how special it was for me to see a musician I've so admired come to play in my hometown, in part because of time and effort I put in. Beauty speaks for itself, even in this crazy virtual mechanized world we live in. And it was a beautiful performance, without a doubt. In my opinion, the Old Man is one of the finest songwriters working today and has a lyrical aptitude on par with Bob Dylan or Neil Young. Not to mention the soul of a poet.
After pulling myself together I made it up to Dooly's to hear Lonesome Jim wrap up: he can still giv'r, as we say around here, despite 25+ years in public education. That's a FEAT, let me tell you. I lasted three years, and even now I can't giv'r like he can. Way to go Jim, when people are looking for a show you certainly don't dissapoint~! And Fusion was home to Beth Tait and her band. Rumour has it the beers were being ordered two at a time, that's how much fun people had. Cheers to that :)
Get ready for a long post on Saturday, it exceeded my expectations. Which is so nice when you spend nearly a year planning!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Then came Thursday
You might want to read these posts in reverse order; if you weren't there, they'll make more sense.
The crowd started to pick up steam a bit on Thursday. Certainly, part of that owes to the fact that we pitched a tent in some prime parking territory (I can only imagine the parking anxiety this induced! Oh, the humanity!). If I had a dime for every craned neck that drove by, my student loan would nearly be paid. But that's kind of the fun part too, doing something so unexpected that people's little worlds suddenly start misbehaving. A little novelty is irresistable.
Lunchtime showcases started with a handful of people but Keith MacPherson and Kendra Gale started roping them in. If you didn't catch this duo, you missed out. Kendra is a multi-instrumentalist and fantastic singer, and Keith plays bass and sings along too. They sound so great together, and when Kendra gets her foot tambourine going all is right with the world. Loved that they made it here, and that they were willing to stick around for another go at the Queen Street Market on Saturday. Not to be missed in the future, FYI.
Richard Wetmore played his food songs later in the afternoon, educating the crowd about corn, corn syrup, agribusiness, farming. Richard's unique combination of Anglican singing, swearing and jokes really has a way of getting the point across, despite the fatigue we inevitably feel when someone starts telling us how truly messed up the world is. Hats off to you, Richard, I'm happy to come along.
Evening entertainment was Marc Zsammer and Dianne Roxborough Brown at Connell House (classical music), Tracy Anderson solo debut at Fusion (jazz), Keith and Kendra at Dooly's, and a triple feature at the Mainstage - Lonesome Jim, the Beaters and Singing Bridge Orchestra. Reports are that all went well - the classical musicians were impressed by the beautiful sound and setting at Connell House, the Fusion gig was wall-to-wall, and they were still dancing at Dooly's when I got there at 1am. Tracy tucked away her butterflies long enough for her fingers to show us some of what she learned in Toronto this summer. And Lonesome Jim was his usual self- acerbic wit coupled with virtuosic strumming and inimitable harp playing, the Beaters got the party started, and the SBO managed to get all the way through our disco and funk set without anybody throwing things. Life was good!
I need to pause here to re-iterate what a good job Dean Weeks did. Our SBO is an eight-person band with everything from 5 vocalists to trumpets, trombones, cowbells and shakers. Thursday night was the clearest we had ever heard ourselves, and we played with only a short, informal soundcheck. It takes real talent for a soundman to deal with that and make it look natural. And SOUND GOOD. So Dean, we salute you. Thanks again :)
Thursday wrapped up with 152 through the gate at the mainstage. By then people had caught on that they should walk from one place to another. Don't ask me where they parked. So once again people forgot that 10pm is 'bedtime' and walked from venue to venue, seeing what they were missing and marvelling that in a tiny town, people could have a choice of which event they wanted to take in. It was great - even the Mayor was there. Again. At every event. Nice work, your Worship.
The crowd started to pick up steam a bit on Thursday. Certainly, part of that owes to the fact that we pitched a tent in some prime parking territory (I can only imagine the parking anxiety this induced! Oh, the humanity!). If I had a dime for every craned neck that drove by, my student loan would nearly be paid. But that's kind of the fun part too, doing something so unexpected that people's little worlds suddenly start misbehaving. A little novelty is irresistable.
Lunchtime showcases started with a handful of people but Keith MacPherson and Kendra Gale started roping them in. If you didn't catch this duo, you missed out. Kendra is a multi-instrumentalist and fantastic singer, and Keith plays bass and sings along too. They sound so great together, and when Kendra gets her foot tambourine going all is right with the world. Loved that they made it here, and that they were willing to stick around for another go at the Queen Street Market on Saturday. Not to be missed in the future, FYI.
Richard Wetmore played his food songs later in the afternoon, educating the crowd about corn, corn syrup, agribusiness, farming. Richard's unique combination of Anglican singing, swearing and jokes really has a way of getting the point across, despite the fatigue we inevitably feel when someone starts telling us how truly messed up the world is. Hats off to you, Richard, I'm happy to come along.
Evening entertainment was Marc Zsammer and Dianne Roxborough Brown at Connell House (classical music), Tracy Anderson solo debut at Fusion (jazz), Keith and Kendra at Dooly's, and a triple feature at the Mainstage - Lonesome Jim, the Beaters and Singing Bridge Orchestra. Reports are that all went well - the classical musicians were impressed by the beautiful sound and setting at Connell House, the Fusion gig was wall-to-wall, and they were still dancing at Dooly's when I got there at 1am. Tracy tucked away her butterflies long enough for her fingers to show us some of what she learned in Toronto this summer. And Lonesome Jim was his usual self- acerbic wit coupled with virtuosic strumming and inimitable harp playing, the Beaters got the party started, and the SBO managed to get all the way through our disco and funk set without anybody throwing things. Life was good!
I need to pause here to re-iterate what a good job Dean Weeks did. Our SBO is an eight-person band with everything from 5 vocalists to trumpets, trombones, cowbells and shakers. Thursday night was the clearest we had ever heard ourselves, and we played with only a short, informal soundcheck. It takes real talent for a soundman to deal with that and make it look natural. And SOUND GOOD. So Dean, we salute you. Thanks again :)
Thursday wrapped up with 152 through the gate at the mainstage. By then people had caught on that they should walk from one place to another. Don't ask me where they parked. So once again people forgot that 10pm is 'bedtime' and walked from venue to venue, seeing what they were missing and marvelling that in a tiny town, people could have a choice of which event they wanted to take in. It was great - even the Mayor was there. Again. At every event. Nice work, your Worship.
For the Faithful Who Have Answered
Well, we did it! I guess you can see how much time I had to blog. Too bad. But if I would've had time, here's what I might've said.....
Wednesday: We managed to get the mainstage site set-up without any major hitches. Passed the building inspection and even had time to get a haircut. Best not to look like a shaggy lion when so many people are coming to visit....Music and art at Connell House were well-received. The crowd was smaller this year but also more thoughtful. People who left early missed John Thompson playing the harp and the piano at the same time. It was surreal!
The Transatlantic Zodiac Ensemble kicked things waaaay up at Fusion. It's a miracle the band even fit in there - 9 players, including a regular drumset and percussionist, soprano sax, violin, accordian and more. Wall-to-wall people ate up every morsel they played. There are always moments as an organizer when you can't believe how little things can add up to something so exciting and that was definitely one of them
Over at Dooly's a few intrepid souls disregarded their Carleton County bedtime (ie. 10pm!) to stay up late and hear Atlantic Bridge. I am now playing keys and singing with this group and thanks to the steller hosting and tech support of Peter McLaughlin, we managed to make some toes tap and even a few brave souls danced.
The loudest show of the week was already underway at the Mainstage, sponsored by MES Music. I didn't have a chance to get there but I heard people had a great time. I can't say enough about Dean and Jennie Weeks and their support for this festival. We would have fallen on our faces without Dean. He had the gear, he was there all week with only a few breaks and made everyone sound fantastic. So if you live around here, you'd better buy local, because we're screwed if something ever happens to MES Music!!
I'll write some more about the rest later. Didn't realize there was this much to tell! Stay tuned.....
Wednesday: We managed to get the mainstage site set-up without any major hitches. Passed the building inspection and even had time to get a haircut. Best not to look like a shaggy lion when so many people are coming to visit....Music and art at Connell House were well-received. The crowd was smaller this year but also more thoughtful. People who left early missed John Thompson playing the harp and the piano at the same time. It was surreal!
The Transatlantic Zodiac Ensemble kicked things waaaay up at Fusion. It's a miracle the band even fit in there - 9 players, including a regular drumset and percussionist, soprano sax, violin, accordian and more. Wall-to-wall people ate up every morsel they played. There are always moments as an organizer when you can't believe how little things can add up to something so exciting and that was definitely one of them
Over at Dooly's a few intrepid souls disregarded their Carleton County bedtime (ie. 10pm!) to stay up late and hear Atlantic Bridge. I am now playing keys and singing with this group and thanks to the steller hosting and tech support of Peter McLaughlin, we managed to make some toes tap and even a few brave souls danced.
The loudest show of the week was already underway at the Mainstage, sponsored by MES Music. I didn't have a chance to get there but I heard people had a great time. I can't say enough about Dean and Jennie Weeks and their support for this festival. We would have fallen on our faces without Dean. He had the gear, he was there all week with only a few breaks and made everyone sound fantastic. So if you live around here, you'd better buy local, because we're screwed if something ever happens to MES Music!!
I'll write some more about the rest later. Didn't realize there was this much to tell! Stay tuned.....
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
How To Build A Dooryard
Step One: Get a bunch of rugged volunteers
Step Two: Disassemble 44 sections of steel 10 foot fencing
Step Three: Rent a mucho expensive tent ($$$$)
Step Four: Get a Building Permit
Step Five: Figure out how to secure said tent according to Building Code without going broke or crazy (cement blocks, thanks Town of Woodstock)
Step 6: Add caffeine and mix
Step 7: Rent a portable stage
Step 8: Add merch and bar tents
Step 9: Finish with PA Systems from busy local soundman
Step 10: Pray that the people come to enjoy it
See you in the Dooryard, I'll be blogging as much as I can for those who can't be here in person (or prefer the eerie glow of their computer monitor).
Step Two: Disassemble 44 sections of steel 10 foot fencing
Step Three: Rent a mucho expensive tent ($$$$)
Step Four: Get a Building Permit
Step Five: Figure out how to secure said tent according to Building Code without going broke or crazy (cement blocks, thanks Town of Woodstock)
Step 6: Add caffeine and mix
Step 7: Rent a portable stage
Step 8: Add merch and bar tents
Step 9: Finish with PA Systems from busy local soundman
Step 10: Pray that the people come to enjoy it
See you in the Dooryard, I'll be blogging as much as I can for those who can't be here in person (or prefer the eerie glow of their computer monitor).
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Like a Carleton County potluck, only for the arts . . .
The excitement surrounding this year's Dooryard Arts Festival is palpable. Everyone is waiting to see how it's going to go, because this year it's waaay bigger than any one person or stereotype. We've got rockers, we've got banjos, we've got violins, we've got paints, prints, kids, vendors, singers, songwriters, poets, body artists, knitters, potters, painters and writers. And more - really.
What excites me most about this festival is the variety - it's not just a rock fest for hipster teenagers. It's not another gospel concert with the same old tunes, or another fancy fine arts show. It's everything all mixed together, with everyone contributing in their own unique way. Even the "steering committee" isn't really steering this bus - Dean Weeks booked the Indie Night, Valley Young Company chose their production, musicians built new bands, and the excitement just keeps growing.
Don't get me wrong, we're readier than ever. But if you're looking for a genre typecast for this festival, you'd best keep rolling down the river. Because the only thing that really unifies this festival is our location - being here in (mostly) Carleton County, and having some form of individual or collective human expression. Expect the unexpected, expect to see, hear, taste, smell and even touch things you don't normally experience.
This is the wonderful thing about the arts: it takes us beyond our puny and often self-absorbed personal identities (I put myself in this category too, don't worry) and takes us somewhere else. Like trying that new dish at a potluck. You don't have to eat a plateful, but just try it, already. You might like it, and even if you don't, at least you will have experienced a little shred of personal growth. This is the stuff that life is made of.
What excites me most about this festival is the variety - it's not just a rock fest for hipster teenagers. It's not another gospel concert with the same old tunes, or another fancy fine arts show. It's everything all mixed together, with everyone contributing in their own unique way. Even the "steering committee" isn't really steering this bus - Dean Weeks booked the Indie Night, Valley Young Company chose their production, musicians built new bands, and the excitement just keeps growing.
Don't get me wrong, we're readier than ever. But if you're looking for a genre typecast for this festival, you'd best keep rolling down the river. Because the only thing that really unifies this festival is our location - being here in (mostly) Carleton County, and having some form of individual or collective human expression. Expect the unexpected, expect to see, hear, taste, smell and even touch things you don't normally experience.
This is the wonderful thing about the arts: it takes us beyond our puny and often self-absorbed personal identities (I put myself in this category too, don't worry) and takes us somewhere else. Like trying that new dish at a potluck. You don't have to eat a plateful, but just try it, already. You might like it, and even if you don't, at least you will have experienced a little shred of personal growth. This is the stuff that life is made of.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
VYC: Never Swim Alone
VYC has changed its Dooryard Production to "Never Swim Alone" by Nova Scotia playwright Daniel McIvor. If you've purchased an "Our Town" ticket, those will be honoured at the door and any difference in price refunded to you. Full refunds will also be available should you choose not to attend "Never Swim Alone," but we encourage you to check out this great Maritime show.
Some info from Lee Kinney, Artistic Director of VYC:
Never Swim Alone by Nova Scotian playwright Daniel MacIvor. The play is a very contemporary piece with three actors - 2 men, 1 woman - with very minimal set, costume and lighting requirements. The piece is very engaging and exciting, and will introduce new staging and production styles for our company.
Russ Hunt, a STU professor, wrote a review of the a Hampton High production in 2003 that can be found here: http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/reviews/swim.htm and is worth taking a look through for an idea of the play.
If you're not familiar with MacIvor, he is also well worth taking a look at. He is one of the most successful and prolific Canadian playwrights, specializing in meta-theatrical plays, and profound and hilarious one-man shows. He is originally from Sydney, NS, and has been working across Canada since the early 80s, continuing to write today (his latest play "His Greatness" about Tenessee Williams was published in 2008).
Some info from Lee Kinney, Artistic Director of VYC:
Never Swim Alone by Nova Scotian playwright Daniel MacIvor. The play is a very contemporary piece with three actors - 2 men, 1 woman - with very minimal set, costume and lighting requirements. The piece is very engaging and exciting, and will introduce new staging and production styles for our company.
Russ Hunt, a STU professor, wrote a review of the a Hampton High production in 2003 that can be found here: http://www.stthomasu.ca/~hunt/reviews/swim.htm and is worth taking a look through for an idea of the play.
If you're not familiar with MacIvor, he is also well worth taking a look at. He is one of the most successful and prolific Canadian playwrights, specializing in meta-theatrical plays, and profound and hilarious one-man shows. He is originally from Sydney, NS, and has been working across Canada since the early 80s, continuing to write today (his latest play "His Greatness" about Tenessee Williams was published in 2008).
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
There's Something About Dooryard
Well, we've seen what's coming down the river, and it's a whole lot of festival fun.
Last year's Dooryard Arts Festival was the first edition. And we all know what "firsts" can be like: thrilling, hectic, terrifying, confusing, and unforgettable. We ended last year sunburnt to a crisp, not quite broke and fiercely proud of what we managed to accomplish - despite needing Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D to find a location, and figuring out how to close streets, recruit artists, pay musicians, power PA systems and countless other things.
This year we've made many improvements: cleaner porta potties (oh, YEAH!), a larger tent, food vendors, children's activities, art workshops for adults, more bands, more artists, a great Saturday market lineup, new venues and much more. I dare say this is the largest display of local talent anywhere in the province. So, in keeping with last year's tradition, here are 10 things you do not want to miss at this year's Dooryard Arts Festival.
10. Still-life drawing workshop for adults, Thursday, 7pm. Yes, Virginia, adults can learn something new.
9. Charlie Bomb: Hit and Run premiere, Wednesday night. Charlie's worst nightmare and a few laughs too.
8. The opening cocktail party at Connell House. Beautiful room, beautiful food, beautiful music. MMmm...
7. Writers! Jason Wilson on Thursday evening, Vagabond Trust on Friday afternoon, Beyond Words on Saturday afternoon. Writers don't go out in public often, get a peek while you can.
6. The biggest little bands you can imagine stuffed into Fusion: Transatlantic Zodiac Ensemble (Wednesday ) and Oh No, Theodore! (Saturday). No cover, but the Karma Cup will be in attendence.
5. New artworks from Jill Stephenson, Adam Atherton and Laurel Green.
4. Tunes "from away:" Montreal's Abigail Lapell, NYC violinist Marc Zsammer and Nova Scotia's Mike Dalton.
3. The most rockin' evening Carleton County has seen since Woodstock. Oh wait....Mike Bochoff, Telfer, and Andrew Hunter & the Gatherers blow the roof off the mainstage Saturday night.
2. Juno Award Winner and banjo poet Old Man Luedecke makes you take back all those banjo jokes. Friday night on the mainstage.
1. Saturday. A full day of all-ages programming, including the return of the Queen Street Market. Buskers, food, artist vendors, children's readings, drumming workshops, a magician, writers and songwriters. This year, folks, the city comes to us. Say it with me: Saturday!
We've heard through the grapevine people are talking about the festival. We hope so, it's for you!
Last year's Dooryard Arts Festival was the first edition. And we all know what "firsts" can be like: thrilling, hectic, terrifying, confusing, and unforgettable. We ended last year sunburnt to a crisp, not quite broke and fiercely proud of what we managed to accomplish - despite needing Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and Plan D to find a location, and figuring out how to close streets, recruit artists, pay musicians, power PA systems and countless other things.
This year we've made many improvements: cleaner porta potties (oh, YEAH!), a larger tent, food vendors, children's activities, art workshops for adults, more bands, more artists, a great Saturday market lineup, new venues and much more. I dare say this is the largest display of local talent anywhere in the province. So, in keeping with last year's tradition, here are 10 things you do not want to miss at this year's Dooryard Arts Festival.
10. Still-life drawing workshop for adults, Thursday, 7pm. Yes, Virginia, adults can learn something new.
9. Charlie Bomb: Hit and Run premiere, Wednesday night. Charlie's worst nightmare and a few laughs too.
8. The opening cocktail party at Connell House. Beautiful room, beautiful food, beautiful music. MMmm...
7. Writers! Jason Wilson on Thursday evening, Vagabond Trust on Friday afternoon, Beyond Words on Saturday afternoon. Writers don't go out in public often, get a peek while you can.
6. The biggest little bands you can imagine stuffed into Fusion: Transatlantic Zodiac Ensemble (Wednesday ) and Oh No, Theodore! (Saturday). No cover, but the Karma Cup will be in attendence.
5. New artworks from Jill Stephenson, Adam Atherton and Laurel Green.
4. Tunes "from away:" Montreal's Abigail Lapell, NYC violinist Marc Zsammer and Nova Scotia's Mike Dalton.
3. The most rockin' evening Carleton County has seen since Woodstock. Oh wait....Mike Bochoff, Telfer, and Andrew Hunter & the Gatherers blow the roof off the mainstage Saturday night.
2. Juno Award Winner and banjo poet Old Man Luedecke makes you take back all those banjo jokes. Friday night on the mainstage.
1. Saturday. A full day of all-ages programming, including the return of the Queen Street Market. Buskers, food, artist vendors, children's readings, drumming workshops, a magician, writers and songwriters. This year, folks, the city comes to us. Say it with me: Saturday!
We've heard through the grapevine people are talking about the festival. We hope so, it's for you!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Who Cares for the Body?
The random farmers near the roadside make me wonder. They make my mouth water because I came from a family where you went outside to pick your supper, washed it and then put it on the table. But these berry, egg and vegetable offerings next to commercial centres also make me uneasy - they shouldn't have to sit in deserted parking lots all day to get their produce to people. When farmers aren't in the grocery store, and aren't at the Farm Market, something is wrong.
I don't say this to upset any of the fine people on the Farm Market Board of Directors - they've worked hard to get a building and keep things going during times when food wasn't the blockbuster issue it seems to have become lately. But we desperately need to have fresh local food at our Farm Market - not just for farmers, but for our bodies (not to mention the body politic).
But all this talk of food and the issues that surround it - corporate control of meat and grain production, obesity and diabetes, the death of cooking and the family meal, the separation that most people have from their food producers - really makes me think about the body and how uncared for it is nowadays.
For example: we're continually blasted with images and exhortations to buy food that is terrible for our bodies and for the planet. And we're told it's a "treat." No, it's not. My mother's rasberry pie or string beans from the garden or real strawberries or a homemade cookie is a treat.
We don't send kids outside to exercise and run around anymore, we don't go out dancing with our friends and spouses, we don't walk anywhere and we wonder why our ten year olds look sickly, our twenty year olds have back pain and everyone is depressed. It's because we don't give proper consideration to our bodies anymore. Using the phrase "my body" in most social situations will immediately make people suspect you are a wacko of some kind. Too bad.
When I think back to my childhood, most of my good memories have something to do with my body: the smell of working men in my family coming in for supper (sawdust, hay and motor oil), the taste of food picked off the plant and eaten (carrots rinsed with the garden hose and devoured), long uphill bike rides and flying downhill on the other side, swims in the brook and lake, the homecooking of numerous aunts, mothers and grandmothers, mud pies, sandboxes, swing sets, sunsets, horses, long stories after supper.
These are treats and not of the high-minded philosophical variety. They are the things that form culture, keep us civilized and make us truly human. I feel sad that we've lost the body. I think the mind can be a terrible tyrant if it runs the show all the time. A mind can be convinced of anything if you put the right message on 'repeat.' The body is an ecosystem with its own internal balance. When the environment of the body is off-kilter, it colours everything we see, hear, taste, touch, feel and think.
Until we make peace with our bodies, we will never solve our overconsumption problems. As goes the body, so goes the nation, perhaps....
I don't say this to upset any of the fine people on the Farm Market Board of Directors - they've worked hard to get a building and keep things going during times when food wasn't the blockbuster issue it seems to have become lately. But we desperately need to have fresh local food at our Farm Market - not just for farmers, but for our bodies (not to mention the body politic).
But all this talk of food and the issues that surround it - corporate control of meat and grain production, obesity and diabetes, the death of cooking and the family meal, the separation that most people have from their food producers - really makes me think about the body and how uncared for it is nowadays.
For example: we're continually blasted with images and exhortations to buy food that is terrible for our bodies and for the planet. And we're told it's a "treat." No, it's not. My mother's rasberry pie or string beans from the garden or real strawberries or a homemade cookie is a treat.
We don't send kids outside to exercise and run around anymore, we don't go out dancing with our friends and spouses, we don't walk anywhere and we wonder why our ten year olds look sickly, our twenty year olds have back pain and everyone is depressed. It's because we don't give proper consideration to our bodies anymore. Using the phrase "my body" in most social situations will immediately make people suspect you are a wacko of some kind. Too bad.
When I think back to my childhood, most of my good memories have something to do with my body: the smell of working men in my family coming in for supper (sawdust, hay and motor oil), the taste of food picked off the plant and eaten (carrots rinsed with the garden hose and devoured), long uphill bike rides and flying downhill on the other side, swims in the brook and lake, the homecooking of numerous aunts, mothers and grandmothers, mud pies, sandboxes, swing sets, sunsets, horses, long stories after supper.
These are treats and not of the high-minded philosophical variety. They are the things that form culture, keep us civilized and make us truly human. I feel sad that we've lost the body. I think the mind can be a terrible tyrant if it runs the show all the time. A mind can be convinced of anything if you put the right message on 'repeat.' The body is an ecosystem with its own internal balance. When the environment of the body is off-kilter, it colours everything we see, hear, taste, touch, feel and think.
Until we make peace with our bodies, we will never solve our overconsumption problems. As goes the body, so goes the nation, perhaps....
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Passivity
I'm nearly finished reading Richard Sennett's brilliant book "The Fall of Public Man." I am on quest right now to understand why things are they way they are, both in general "society" and also in our little town. It's pretty interesting, and beats watching the same commerical ten times in one evening.
I like Sennett because he doesn't just repeat the standard answers: ie. capitalism is bad, people are obsessed with material things, the political elite don't want an electoral system that actually reflects the priorities of working people. Spare me, please - it's not that simple.
Instead he looks at ideas of public and private and how our perception of what those mean has changed since the industrial revolution. In the 17th and early 18th centuries people in public saw themselves as actors. Showing your feelings was a well-practiced art, with specific ways of demonstrating each. Talking to complete strangers in public was totally normal. Being social in a crowd was completely normal. Costumed public appearances were normal too.
Today people are absorped in the psychological dimensions of their families, living in neighbourhoods where people are just like them, and seeing crowds and strangers as something to be feared. The most valued bonds are formed by sharing deep intimate thoughts. "Community" is made up of people forming these bonds. Narcissism is everywhere.
Our fundamental ideas about public and private have changed a lot, and where people used to be demonstrative in public, now they are passive, keeping their feelings on the inside and keeping their bodies still and silenced. We teach our children this all the time.
It was very common for people in the 18th century theatres to heckle, spit, boo, hiss, cry, laugh, and even sit on the stage. They did this unabashedly. Picture the House of Commons during Question Period - that's what it was like.
Now it's difficult to get people to respond or participate in ordinary situations. I've seen it - audiences that won't laugh or can't decide if it's "okay" to clap, people who won't dance to music designed for dancing, people who won't introduce themselves to someone despite being in close proximity to a stranger, church congregations who won't sing above a whisper for fear of hearing their collective voice. It's everywhere, pass the remote control. It has poltical implications - most people won't get organized enough to protest or to challenge systems which are actually doing harm to them or their compatriots.
Situations where people shun this passivity are seen as audacious and maybe slightly dangerous. Heaven forbid you might be seen enjoying yourself in public, or that you might experience something out of the ordinary in a crowd of strangers. You might actually change the system.
I think school has a large part in engraining passivity, as do television and advertising. I think this passivity makes us insecure about ourselves and robs us of opportunities to express joy, sorrow and anger in a meaningful way in public. We have a need to participate in something other than consumerism, whether it's collective joy, the political process, storytelling, or the social life of a town or city.
So get off the couch/internet/txt and go somewhere new today. What you will see will change you. And you'll be fine - slightly different, but more fully human.
I like Sennett because he doesn't just repeat the standard answers: ie. capitalism is bad, people are obsessed with material things, the political elite don't want an electoral system that actually reflects the priorities of working people. Spare me, please - it's not that simple.
Instead he looks at ideas of public and private and how our perception of what those mean has changed since the industrial revolution. In the 17th and early 18th centuries people in public saw themselves as actors. Showing your feelings was a well-practiced art, with specific ways of demonstrating each. Talking to complete strangers in public was totally normal. Being social in a crowd was completely normal. Costumed public appearances were normal too.
Today people are absorped in the psychological dimensions of their families, living in neighbourhoods where people are just like them, and seeing crowds and strangers as something to be feared. The most valued bonds are formed by sharing deep intimate thoughts. "Community" is made up of people forming these bonds. Narcissism is everywhere.
Our fundamental ideas about public and private have changed a lot, and where people used to be demonstrative in public, now they are passive, keeping their feelings on the inside and keeping their bodies still and silenced. We teach our children this all the time.
It was very common for people in the 18th century theatres to heckle, spit, boo, hiss, cry, laugh, and even sit on the stage. They did this unabashedly. Picture the House of Commons during Question Period - that's what it was like.
Now it's difficult to get people to respond or participate in ordinary situations. I've seen it - audiences that won't laugh or can't decide if it's "okay" to clap, people who won't dance to music designed for dancing, people who won't introduce themselves to someone despite being in close proximity to a stranger, church congregations who won't sing above a whisper for fear of hearing their collective voice. It's everywhere, pass the remote control. It has poltical implications - most people won't get organized enough to protest or to challenge systems which are actually doing harm to them or their compatriots.
Situations where people shun this passivity are seen as audacious and maybe slightly dangerous. Heaven forbid you might be seen enjoying yourself in public, or that you might experience something out of the ordinary in a crowd of strangers. You might actually change the system.
I think school has a large part in engraining passivity, as do television and advertising. I think this passivity makes us insecure about ourselves and robs us of opportunities to express joy, sorrow and anger in a meaningful way in public. We have a need to participate in something other than consumerism, whether it's collective joy, the political process, storytelling, or the social life of a town or city.
So get off the couch/internet/txt and go somewhere new today. What you will see will change you. And you'll be fine - slightly different, but more fully human.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
How will I know what to "like" ?
I don't have time to fully explore this right now but it looks promising. All you techno-punks (or people who value their private information) will likely find this interesting.
http://www.joindiaspora.com/project.html
More to come after I have a chance to digest...
http://www.joindiaspora.com/project.html
More to come after I have a chance to digest...
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
That pesky Charter of Rights
A lot has been said and written about the G8/G20 events in Toronto. Here's what I have to say about it.
A lot of the commentators seem to have really bizarre perceptions of people who protest. There is generally no discussion about why normal people decide to skip the family BBQ, the trip to the movies, etc. to go and get their heads whacked by a bunch of agressive and.or frightened police officers. (I'm not convinced all police officers are inherently evil).
The assumptions tend to go one of two ways:
1. These "privileged kids" should stop whining and realize how good their lives are.
2. The protesters are trouble-makers who don't even know what they're protesting.
I have been to a couple of large protests (tear-gas included) and here's who goes to protests: old ladies who are concerned about cuts to public health care and pensions, students who feel that corporations have too much economic power/political influence/not enough responsibilty, union members who are concerned about their job security, indigenous people who have been kicked off their land, people concerned about climate change and environmental degradation.
There seems to be a real disconnect between Canadians' assumptions that we have "free speech" and supporting fellow Canadians in the exercise of those rights. In case you forgot, here's what ye olde Charter of Rights and Freedoms has to say on the issue:
SECTION 2: Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
Citizens have the right to challenge the legitimacy of corporate institutions like the G8 and the G20. Disagreeing with the government does not equal losing your democratic rights.
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
Standing with a sign and a message does not make you a terrorist.
(d) freedom of association.
If this G20 mess had happened in China, lots of self-righteous commentators would have disapprovingly mentioned that the government spent over a billion dollars on militarzed police, and that shortly after the singing of the national anthem, those police charged into a peaceful crowd, swinging clubs at the heads of mothers, grandmothers, uncles and brothers.
But it wasn't China, it was Canada. And lots of people on the sidelines seem to have forgotten that the majority of people who protested are people just like them. And what I find the most disturbing is that the same people who want to pretend that protesters are "trouble-makers" also complain that corporations have too much power and that governments won't stand up to them. Well, you can't have it both ways, folks.
One last thing: if people hadn't protested in the past, women would not be legal "persons" in Canada, there would be no regulations against child labour, there would be no health care, minimum wage, collective bargaining or environmental laws. So maybe it's time to abandon the simplistic assumptions and take a closer look at why regular people would put themselves in harm's way.
A lot of the commentators seem to have really bizarre perceptions of people who protest. There is generally no discussion about why normal people decide to skip the family BBQ, the trip to the movies, etc. to go and get their heads whacked by a bunch of agressive and.or frightened police officers. (I'm not convinced all police officers are inherently evil).
The assumptions tend to go one of two ways:
1. These "privileged kids" should stop whining and realize how good their lives are.
2. The protesters are trouble-makers who don't even know what they're protesting.
I have been to a couple of large protests (tear-gas included) and here's who goes to protests: old ladies who are concerned about cuts to public health care and pensions, students who feel that corporations have too much economic power/political influence/not enough responsibilty, union members who are concerned about their job security, indigenous people who have been kicked off their land, people concerned about climate change and environmental degradation.
There seems to be a real disconnect between Canadians' assumptions that we have "free speech" and supporting fellow Canadians in the exercise of those rights. In case you forgot, here's what ye olde Charter of Rights and Freedoms has to say on the issue:
SECTION 2: Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
Citizens have the right to challenge the legitimacy of corporate institutions like the G8 and the G20. Disagreeing with the government does not equal losing your democratic rights.
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and
Standing with a sign and a message does not make you a terrorist.
(d) freedom of association.
If this G20 mess had happened in China, lots of self-righteous commentators would have disapprovingly mentioned that the government spent over a billion dollars on militarzed police, and that shortly after the singing of the national anthem, those police charged into a peaceful crowd, swinging clubs at the heads of mothers, grandmothers, uncles and brothers.
But it wasn't China, it was Canada. And lots of people on the sidelines seem to have forgotten that the majority of people who protested are people just like them. And what I find the most disturbing is that the same people who want to pretend that protesters are "trouble-makers" also complain that corporations have too much power and that governments won't stand up to them. Well, you can't have it both ways, folks.
One last thing: if people hadn't protested in the past, women would not be legal "persons" in Canada, there would be no regulations against child labour, there would be no health care, minimum wage, collective bargaining or environmental laws. So maybe it's time to abandon the simplistic assumptions and take a closer look at why regular people would put themselves in harm's way.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Parking first, women and children second
Check out these incredibly depressing photos of downtown Atlanta. Lots of parking! No people anywhere....just what you needed on a grey day like this, right?
Daily Dead Birds
You can find the numbers dead, oiled and released here. The BP spill is still gushing.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Woodstock: The City That Wasn't?
I finally finished "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" this spring, on my way to the placemaking workshop in NYC. Since then I have been thinking continually about places in general, Woodstock in particular, and how our culture becomes visible in the buildings we construct, the town we live in, and our attitude towards public gatherings.
I've also been reading a lot by Richard Sennett, an academic who has a very interesting perspective on history, the private vs. public realms, buildings, theatre and culture. Right now I'm working through "The Fall of Public Man," which deals with the ways people present themselves in public now vs. they way they did in the 1700, 1800 and 1900's. Apparently back then it was completely normal to address strangers in public, to see oneself as a 'performer' in public, much like an actor, and to assemble in public places for celebrations.
I look at a town like Woodstock, with its small but preserved public square and I start thinking about who really built this town, how it has evolved from two small settlements (one at Upper Woodstock, one at the Meduxnekeag and St. John rivers).
If you look at the Census information for Woodstock, the population really hasn't changed much since its founding. Add to that the fact that Woodstock is at an ideal geographic location - the meeting point of two rivers, at the junction of TCH #2 and Interstate 95, the fact that it is equi-distant between Portland, Maine, Halifax, and Montreal, and it would appear that Woodstock has all the geographic characteristics of a city.
But it hasn't grown. Why?
I think there are several reasons. First, because the people who settled here were Loyalists, people who were averse to taking risks, preferring instead to follow rules and leave the American Colonies to preserve their social status and avoid conflict.
Also, I think this conservativeness (and I mean that in a general sense, leave the blue guys out of this) has implications for public gatherings, the encouragement of creativity and the status of young people. Creative young people want to socialize, try new things, experiment and take risks. All of which are seen primarily as negatives around here. Challenge me on that if you can think of examples of risk-takers being lionized in the public realsm, but I can't think of any ready examples.
A culture that sees young people as a threat or a liability or a culture that is uncomfortable with sexuality outside of monogamy/heterosexuality is not going to meet the needs of many young people. And many profitable enterprises are started by risk-taking, creative people in their teens and twenties. Look at Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc. This reticence has a big impact on the future of small towns.
An overemphasis on marriage and families causes people to withdraw from public life. I think it would be fair to say that many people around here conside cities and families incompatible. As in "you can't raise a good family in the city," or "I would never raise kids in the city." I guess cities are associated with crime, but there are break-ins (and even the occasional shooting) around here frequently and nobody labels Woodstock as a "dangerous" place to live. So why do we feel that way about cities?
The other day my friend and I were listing all of the organizations that attempted to locate in Woodstock and were denied: King's Landing, McCain Foods, the Nackawic Pulp Mill. Those are some pretty heavy hitters and if you took those and added them to Woodstock as it stands today, you would be well on your way to "city" status.
I will likely write more on this topic, as it's something I think about a lot. Add your two cents: why do you think Woodstock is not a city?
If people in Woodstock wanted to grow the town into a city, how could we go about doing that?
Hmmm.
I've also been reading a lot by Richard Sennett, an academic who has a very interesting perspective on history, the private vs. public realms, buildings, theatre and culture. Right now I'm working through "The Fall of Public Man," which deals with the ways people present themselves in public now vs. they way they did in the 1700, 1800 and 1900's. Apparently back then it was completely normal to address strangers in public, to see oneself as a 'performer' in public, much like an actor, and to assemble in public places for celebrations.
I look at a town like Woodstock, with its small but preserved public square and I start thinking about who really built this town, how it has evolved from two small settlements (one at Upper Woodstock, one at the Meduxnekeag and St. John rivers).
If you look at the Census information for Woodstock, the population really hasn't changed much since its founding. Add to that the fact that Woodstock is at an ideal geographic location - the meeting point of two rivers, at the junction of TCH #2 and Interstate 95, the fact that it is equi-distant between Portland, Maine, Halifax, and Montreal, and it would appear that Woodstock has all the geographic characteristics of a city.
But it hasn't grown. Why?
I think there are several reasons. First, because the people who settled here were Loyalists, people who were averse to taking risks, preferring instead to follow rules and leave the American Colonies to preserve their social status and avoid conflict.
Also, I think this conservativeness (and I mean that in a general sense, leave the blue guys out of this) has implications for public gatherings, the encouragement of creativity and the status of young people. Creative young people want to socialize, try new things, experiment and take risks. All of which are seen primarily as negatives around here. Challenge me on that if you can think of examples of risk-takers being lionized in the public realsm, but I can't think of any ready examples.
A culture that sees young people as a threat or a liability or a culture that is uncomfortable with sexuality outside of monogamy/heterosexuality is not going to meet the needs of many young people. And many profitable enterprises are started by risk-taking, creative people in their teens and twenties. Look at Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc. This reticence has a big impact on the future of small towns.
An overemphasis on marriage and families causes people to withdraw from public life. I think it would be fair to say that many people around here conside cities and families incompatible. As in "you can't raise a good family in the city," or "I would never raise kids in the city." I guess cities are associated with crime, but there are break-ins (and even the occasional shooting) around here frequently and nobody labels Woodstock as a "dangerous" place to live. So why do we feel that way about cities?
The other day my friend and I were listing all of the organizations that attempted to locate in Woodstock and were denied: King's Landing, McCain Foods, the Nackawic Pulp Mill. Those are some pretty heavy hitters and if you took those and added them to Woodstock as it stands today, you would be well on your way to "city" status.
I will likely write more on this topic, as it's something I think about a lot. Add your two cents: why do you think Woodstock is not a city?
If people in Woodstock wanted to grow the town into a city, how could we go about doing that?
Hmmm.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Can you say "escrow" ?
Looks like BP had better start saving for the billions they will have to pay out in damages and compensation. Not that the ecosystem can put it in its RRSP, of course, but you know what I mean, right....??
Thursday, June 03, 2010
More on NYC
Trying to balance my oily despair with something positive. Here's more on what I learned in NYC. This might appear soon in the Bugle-Observer.
What makes a good public place?
This is one of the questions I tried to answer during a short trip to New York City at the end of April. On April 29th and 30th, I was part of a group of businesspeople, city employees, sustainability advocates and students from around the world who came to learn "How to Turn a Place Around."
I went because I am concerned about Woodstock's downtown. When I look around downtown, I see two beautiful rivers, some remaining historical buildings, friendly people and high-quality small businesses.
But the downtown is also occupied by a large number of vacant lots, such as the one at the corner of Queen and Main streets. Many parking lots used during the day are vacant during evenings and weekends.
Thinking that workshops on "How to Turn a Place Around" could provide fresh ideas, strategies and insight, off I went to Manhattan, the only person from a small town in a room full of "city folk."
We looked at lots of photos of great public places, spaces where people go to relax, walk dogs, buy sandwiches, play with their kids or go on dates. These places were more than "parks" - they are intended to be the "backyards of people who live in the area." What a great notion!
Although Connell Park is the "backyard" of people living in the Creighton and Deacon neighbourhoods, downtown Woodstock doesn't really have a place where you can sit in the shade, take your shoes off and spend an afternoon or evening.
We also learned about "Placemaking" - that every successful public place needs four things: to be accessible and well-connected to other important places in the area, to be comfortable and project a good image, to host activities people can participate in, and to be a sociable place that people will gather over and
over again.
We learned about some very simple processes to engage local residents in improving public places. We also learned how to observe how people actually use a place - where they will and won't cross the street, how long they will stay, which age groups are or aren't present, etc. This information helps lead the improvement process.
One simple piece of advice we were given was "start with the petunias." If a place looks cared for, poeople are more likely to visit and also to respect the space.
During the sessions, we heard the fascinating story of Bryant Park, which is located just south of Times Square. Apparently it was a notorious haven for drug dealers and criminals in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Using the "placemaking" process, some of our workshop presenters helped revitalize Bryant Park. They eliminated the concealing hedges, made the entryway open, added furniture and a sandwich stand to encourage people to frequent the park.
I visited Bryant Park the evening before I left and it was truly the most beautiful, serene, and magical place I have ever seen in a city.
Sometime in the future I would like to share some more information about what I learned and see what the residents of Woodstock can do to create a shared "backyard" in our downtown. Let's start with the petunias!
What makes a good public place?
This is one of the questions I tried to answer during a short trip to New York City at the end of April. On April 29th and 30th, I was part of a group of businesspeople, city employees, sustainability advocates and students from around the world who came to learn "How to Turn a Place Around."
I went because I am concerned about Woodstock's downtown. When I look around downtown, I see two beautiful rivers, some remaining historical buildings, friendly people and high-quality small businesses.
But the downtown is also occupied by a large number of vacant lots, such as the one at the corner of Queen and Main streets. Many parking lots used during the day are vacant during evenings and weekends.
Thinking that workshops on "How to Turn a Place Around" could provide fresh ideas, strategies and insight, off I went to Manhattan, the only person from a small town in a room full of "city folk."
We looked at lots of photos of great public places, spaces where people go to relax, walk dogs, buy sandwiches, play with their kids or go on dates. These places were more than "parks" - they are intended to be the "backyards of people who live in the area." What a great notion!
Although Connell Park is the "backyard" of people living in the Creighton and Deacon neighbourhoods, downtown Woodstock doesn't really have a place where you can sit in the shade, take your shoes off and spend an afternoon or evening.
We also learned about "Placemaking" - that every successful public place needs four things: to be accessible and well-connected to other important places in the area, to be comfortable and project a good image, to host activities people can participate in, and to be a sociable place that people will gather over and
over again.
We learned about some very simple processes to engage local residents in improving public places. We also learned how to observe how people actually use a place - where they will and won't cross the street, how long they will stay, which age groups are or aren't present, etc. This information helps lead the improvement process.
One simple piece of advice we were given was "start with the petunias." If a place looks cared for, poeople are more likely to visit and also to respect the space.
During the sessions, we heard the fascinating story of Bryant Park, which is located just south of Times Square. Apparently it was a notorious haven for drug dealers and criminals in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Using the "placemaking" process, some of our workshop presenters helped revitalize Bryant Park. They eliminated the concealing hedges, made the entryway open, added furniture and a sandwich stand to encourage people to frequent the park.
I visited Bryant Park the evening before I left and it was truly the most beautiful, serene, and magical place I have ever seen in a city.
Sometime in the future I would like to share some more information about what I learned and see what the residents of Woodstock can do to create a shared "backyard" in our downtown. Let's start with the petunias!
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
The madness continues
Follow up to yesterday's post: Greece announces plans to sell its railways and public water systems as per its agreement with the IMF. Bye, bye public assets.
On the oil front, the latest attempt is looking like a failure. Had a dream last night I was clinging to a fake leather couch covered in oil, trying to avoid falling into the oily water. Wonder what those pelicans must feel like...
On the oil front, the latest attempt is looking like a failure. Had a dream last night I was clinging to a fake leather couch covered in oil, trying to avoid falling into the oily water. Wonder what those pelicans must feel like...
Monday, May 31, 2010
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues. I feel like this is exactly what's wrong with the western society - never mind just the United States, although it's easy to point the finger at them and safeguard our own superiority.
Oil companies have manipulated legislatures, pressured and bought politicians in order to relax regulations intended to safeguard the common good. That's what's really at stake here, some sense that the Gulf is important enough to belong to everyone - the people who depend on it for fishing, tourism or making a living, the marine life it contains, the birds that stop there along their many thousands of migratory miles.
All of a sudden, we have a legal/political system that says that drilling for oil (and making profits for oil companies) is more important than safeguarding a body of water that controls a large part of the climate in the North Atlantic. We're drowning in our own arrogance, to think that these kinds of policies are in our "best interest." Everything is connected and we've blown a large hole right into one very important link. And judging from the latest reports, it's unlikely that the gusher will be silenced before August - after several hurricanes have likely had the chance to stir the oily ocean and wash it half-way to kingdom come. You're right, I'm mad.
I'm mad because we live in a society that refuses to restructure itself away from oil dependency because it will be "too slow" or "too hard" or "too painful." I doubt our grandparents who lived through the Depression or the World Wars were this wimpy and selfish. And I'm also upset that each person who drives everywhere, buys food shipped from the other side of the world, and can never have enough "stuff" doesn't want to admit that their personal choices are part of what created the demand that put the Deepwater Oil Rig in the Gulf to begin with. We can continue this kind of denial but the people, birds, animals and marine life off the coast of Louisiana are now paying the price for our actions.
One final thing - and I'm sorry if you find this depressing but it's the reality we have created for ourselves - if this crisis had been a crisis of public finance, or healthcare, or transportation, corporations would be banging down the doors of government demanding we privatize those resources. If you don't think that's true, look at the recent IMF bailout of Greece, or read Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine."
If people and environmentalists are smart, they will use the current ecological tragedy to implement stiff environmental laws. If you have a rig like this blow up, you should lose your drilling license in the U.S. for at least five years. That would be the kind of deterrent big oil understands - a threat to the bottom line. But of course, society is too addicted to oil to restrict our own access. Will we continue to act like junkies who let their dealer burn down their house and ruin their neighbourhood, or will we see what's really coming down the pipeline if we don't change our ways?
Oil companies have manipulated legislatures, pressured and bought politicians in order to relax regulations intended to safeguard the common good. That's what's really at stake here, some sense that the Gulf is important enough to belong to everyone - the people who depend on it for fishing, tourism or making a living, the marine life it contains, the birds that stop there along their many thousands of migratory miles.
All of a sudden, we have a legal/political system that says that drilling for oil (and making profits for oil companies) is more important than safeguarding a body of water that controls a large part of the climate in the North Atlantic. We're drowning in our own arrogance, to think that these kinds of policies are in our "best interest." Everything is connected and we've blown a large hole right into one very important link. And judging from the latest reports, it's unlikely that the gusher will be silenced before August - after several hurricanes have likely had the chance to stir the oily ocean and wash it half-way to kingdom come. You're right, I'm mad.
I'm mad because we live in a society that refuses to restructure itself away from oil dependency because it will be "too slow" or "too hard" or "too painful." I doubt our grandparents who lived through the Depression or the World Wars were this wimpy and selfish. And I'm also upset that each person who drives everywhere, buys food shipped from the other side of the world, and can never have enough "stuff" doesn't want to admit that their personal choices are part of what created the demand that put the Deepwater Oil Rig in the Gulf to begin with. We can continue this kind of denial but the people, birds, animals and marine life off the coast of Louisiana are now paying the price for our actions.
One final thing - and I'm sorry if you find this depressing but it's the reality we have created for ourselves - if this crisis had been a crisis of public finance, or healthcare, or transportation, corporations would be banging down the doors of government demanding we privatize those resources. If you don't think that's true, look at the recent IMF bailout of Greece, or read Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine."
If people and environmentalists are smart, they will use the current ecological tragedy to implement stiff environmental laws. If you have a rig like this blow up, you should lose your drilling license in the U.S. for at least five years. That would be the kind of deterrent big oil understands - a threat to the bottom line. But of course, society is too addicted to oil to restrict our own access. Will we continue to act like junkies who let their dealer burn down their house and ruin their neighbourhood, or will we see what's really coming down the pipeline if we don't change our ways?
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Turning a Place Around: let's go!
It's hard to know where to begin writing about my recent trip to NYC. I haven't travelled alone in a while and life is so busy here at the moment that it's hard to focus my reeling mind on anything other than what I have to get done tomorrow. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous trip, and the workshop I attended, called "How to Turn a Place Around" was excellent. I went because I think Woodstock could use a little turning around. Our downtown looks like it's been hit by a bomb, and it's been that way for over a year. Here's my first in a series of posts.
DAY 1 - Thursday, April 29th.
We gathered in a room full of anticipation, strangers with no common frame of reference except some vague affinity for "great public places," whatever that means. We came because we were interested in change, because we could envision a world beyond the one we knew right now. We were sick of being told it "couldn't be done" and that "nothing would ever change around here." Wherever "here" was, we had all been told the same thing.
Then the presentations began, with no manifestoes about "the man" or "the machine" or invectives against cars or capitalism, no conspiracy theories, no MBA's, nothing except discussions of benches, moveable furniture, garbage cans, crosswalks, sightlines, trees and bicycles. Really elemental stuff, objects with which everyone has had direct contact, spaces we can experience in the flesh and report back on, whether we are homeless people or corporate executives. It felt very liberating not to have to "apply the formula" or "read the manual" in order to give valid feedback on something we'd experienced.
It was really nice to study how to create a place that would acknowledge human needs and meet them, instead of rigidly demanding that humans set their deep needs aside and bow to "rational management." It felt good to acknowledge that people want to be in the presence of other humans in a way that isn't rabidly commercial or psychotically self-interested. That fullfillment isn't in staying home and surfing the thousand channel universe.
The workshop threw ideologies out the window and let us be ourselves. We were glad.
DAY 1 - Thursday, April 29th.
We gathered in a room full of anticipation, strangers with no common frame of reference except some vague affinity for "great public places," whatever that means. We came because we were interested in change, because we could envision a world beyond the one we knew right now. We were sick of being told it "couldn't be done" and that "nothing would ever change around here." Wherever "here" was, we had all been told the same thing.
Then the presentations began, with no manifestoes about "the man" or "the machine" or invectives against cars or capitalism, no conspiracy theories, no MBA's, nothing except discussions of benches, moveable furniture, garbage cans, crosswalks, sightlines, trees and bicycles. Really elemental stuff, objects with which everyone has had direct contact, spaces we can experience in the flesh and report back on, whether we are homeless people or corporate executives. It felt very liberating not to have to "apply the formula" or "read the manual" in order to give valid feedback on something we'd experienced.
It was really nice to study how to create a place that would acknowledge human needs and meet them, instead of rigidly demanding that humans set their deep needs aside and bow to "rational management." It felt good to acknowledge that people want to be in the presence of other humans in a way that isn't rabidly commercial or psychotically self-interested. That fullfillment isn't in staying home and surfing the thousand channel universe.
The workshop threw ideologies out the window and let us be ourselves. We were glad.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Another reason to like Saint John
Great story here about a 1979 action by longshoremen in Saint John that prevented "heavy water" from reaching the military dictatorship in Argentina. An excerpt:
As a result of the protest, 11 of the 17 political prisoners were released within days and three were sent into exile. Another of the prisoners identified by the NO CANDU campaign, union leader Alberto Piccinini, was released a year later. During a visit to Canada, he expressed his gratitude to a group of Canadian workers: “Unity is the unity of all of us; and it must go beyond national boundaries. I am very clear that I am free today because of the struggle first of the people in my country and second because of workers elsewhere – especially in this beautiful country.”
Chile under Pinochet was one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century, and was supported by most governments, including Canada. Luckily, the courage and common decency of people in Saint John was able to help a few Chileans.
As a result of the protest, 11 of the 17 political prisoners were released within days and three were sent into exile. Another of the prisoners identified by the NO CANDU campaign, union leader Alberto Piccinini, was released a year later. During a visit to Canada, he expressed his gratitude to a group of Canadian workers: “Unity is the unity of all of us; and it must go beyond national boundaries. I am very clear that I am free today because of the struggle first of the people in my country and second because of workers elsewhere – especially in this beautiful country.”
Chile under Pinochet was one of the most brutal regimes of the 20th century, and was supported by most governments, including Canada. Luckily, the courage and common decency of people in Saint John was able to help a few Chileans.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
At long last, the facebook status blog
I knew it would come to this eventually. Today I'm not writing about an article or podcast, but about a friend's facebook status. She wrote:
JW is thinking about words: burqa, niqab, sharia, Europe, dhimmi, submission, identity, public security, social inclusion, choice, public/private dichotomy... and wondering whether it is possible to come to agreement on what these words mean.
It got me to thinkin'.
I have read a bunch of books about the Muslim world and the veil and face-covering issues just never go away. For women in the west, we've grown up hearing (if not always experiencing) that women and men deserve to participate equally in public life. Canadian society is increasingly one in which women earn as much money or more than their partners, fathers take paternity leave or even stay at home with children, and the view that women belong in the kitchen, or are the property of their husbands and fathers is long since passed. Thank goodness.
Of all the words in her status list, I think choice is the most important. Whether burqas are banned or not, either way you still have men (either Islamic fundamentalists or western lawmakers) telling women what is okay to wear. They don't have a choice in the matter - their dress is dictated by someone else.
I find this debate very difficult - Canada is supposed to be a nation of religious freedom. But when religious freedom means one gender oppresses the other it's a hard pill to swallow. The sad part is, most Muslim women don't even have any way to voice their opinions on the matter. They are mostly shut out from public participation. That's what bugs me the most.
So then you have to ask yourself whether passing a law banning female face coverings will actually enhance quality of life for these women or further contribute to their seclusion. Looking at the examples of Muslim men murdering their wives or daughters for becoming "too westernized" you have to wonder if banning face coverings could mean putting a vulnerable group even more at risk. It could mean they will never be able to leave their houses. Then you will have an entire sector of the population effectively under house arrest.
The other part of the debate that bothers me is that the law is aimed at Muslims. I don't see anyone taking on the oppression of women within extreme Christian sects - and they do exist, in places where 14-year old girls are married off to old men who already have multiple wives. And let's not forget that some religions don't allow women to wear pants or cut their hair. So it seems a bit hypocritical to me for western parliaments to point their fingers at Muslims only when religious "oppression" (if that's what you want to call it) exists in many forms. So to me the "human rights" argument feels a bit sanctimonious.
I don't believe a ban is the way to go. I believe it will do more harm than good. If we really wanted to do well for Muslim women, I think there are other things we could be doing, like education and job training. Women will take off their veils when they have adequate social resources to do so. When they can stand on their own feet economically and make their own choices financially and in terms of marriage then they will have a choice on how to clothe themselves, either at home or in public.
JW is thinking about words: burqa, niqab, sharia, Europe, dhimmi, submission, identity, public security, social inclusion, choice, public/private dichotomy... and wondering whether it is possible to come to agreement on what these words mean.
It got me to thinkin'.
I have read a bunch of books about the Muslim world and the veil and face-covering issues just never go away. For women in the west, we've grown up hearing (if not always experiencing) that women and men deserve to participate equally in public life. Canadian society is increasingly one in which women earn as much money or more than their partners, fathers take paternity leave or even stay at home with children, and the view that women belong in the kitchen, or are the property of their husbands and fathers is long since passed. Thank goodness.
Of all the words in her status list, I think choice is the most important. Whether burqas are banned or not, either way you still have men (either Islamic fundamentalists or western lawmakers) telling women what is okay to wear. They don't have a choice in the matter - their dress is dictated by someone else.
I find this debate very difficult - Canada is supposed to be a nation of religious freedom. But when religious freedom means one gender oppresses the other it's a hard pill to swallow. The sad part is, most Muslim women don't even have any way to voice their opinions on the matter. They are mostly shut out from public participation. That's what bugs me the most.
So then you have to ask yourself whether passing a law banning female face coverings will actually enhance quality of life for these women or further contribute to their seclusion. Looking at the examples of Muslim men murdering their wives or daughters for becoming "too westernized" you have to wonder if banning face coverings could mean putting a vulnerable group even more at risk. It could mean they will never be able to leave their houses. Then you will have an entire sector of the population effectively under house arrest.
The other part of the debate that bothers me is that the law is aimed at Muslims. I don't see anyone taking on the oppression of women within extreme Christian sects - and they do exist, in places where 14-year old girls are married off to old men who already have multiple wives. And let's not forget that some religions don't allow women to wear pants or cut their hair. So it seems a bit hypocritical to me for western parliaments to point their fingers at Muslims only when religious "oppression" (if that's what you want to call it) exists in many forms. So to me the "human rights" argument feels a bit sanctimonious.
I don't believe a ban is the way to go. I believe it will do more harm than good. If we really wanted to do well for Muslim women, I think there are other things we could be doing, like education and job training. Women will take off their veils when they have adequate social resources to do so. When they can stand on their own feet economically and make their own choices financially and in terms of marriage then they will have a choice on how to clothe themselves, either at home or in public.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Not in my orchestra's back yard
Let me tell you a little bit about the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra. It began back in the 1960's and up until a few years ago had a pretty low profile. The budget was limited but the dedication of volunteers, players and the conductor, Dr. James Mark, kept it going. Dr. Mark was my conducting teacher at Mount A. and never once have I heard a single person say anything negative about him. Never once have I heard him raise his voice at a student or ensemble. A true gentleman, to say the least.
Lately the NBYO has succeeded in taking some high profile trips such as China, Carnegie Hall and Italy. Much of this was made possible by the hard work of the chair of NBYO's Board, Ken McLeod. This Board also recently launched the 'Sistema' program, which is an excellent initiative that provides orchestral instruments and training to children in the Moncton area, regardless of their financial status.
But here's the conflict: it appears that the NBYO is considering replacing Dr. Mark with a Venezuelan conductor connected to Sistema. After more than 15 years of dedication the Board is trying to push Dr. Mark aside over the objections of many in the orchestra, who feel that Dr. Mark is an excellent conductor. Dr. Mark himself has said he does not want to leave the NBYO. It really bugs me that such a dedicated man would be bulldozed in an attempt to build more prestige for Sistema.
In NB we often think our people are not as good as outsiders but we need leaders who understand New Brunswick and its situation. Dr. Mark rountinely travels all over our rural province in an attempt to give young musicians a chance to audition. He knows who the active teachers are, and has given years of his life to build this orchestra.
I support the Sistema program but I think NBYO is "cutting of its nose to spite its face," as we say around here. Dr. Mark deserves our loyalty and he should leave at a time of his choosing, not because of someone else's ambition.
Lately the NBYO has succeeded in taking some high profile trips such as China, Carnegie Hall and Italy. Much of this was made possible by the hard work of the chair of NBYO's Board, Ken McLeod. This Board also recently launched the 'Sistema' program, which is an excellent initiative that provides orchestral instruments and training to children in the Moncton area, regardless of their financial status.
But here's the conflict: it appears that the NBYO is considering replacing Dr. Mark with a Venezuelan conductor connected to Sistema. After more than 15 years of dedication the Board is trying to push Dr. Mark aside over the objections of many in the orchestra, who feel that Dr. Mark is an excellent conductor. Dr. Mark himself has said he does not want to leave the NBYO. It really bugs me that such a dedicated man would be bulldozed in an attempt to build more prestige for Sistema.
In NB we often think our people are not as good as outsiders but we need leaders who understand New Brunswick and its situation. Dr. Mark rountinely travels all over our rural province in an attempt to give young musicians a chance to audition. He knows who the active teachers are, and has given years of his life to build this orchestra.
I support the Sistema program but I think NBYO is "cutting of its nose to spite its face," as we say around here. Dr. Mark deserves our loyalty and he should leave at a time of his choosing, not because of someone else's ambition.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Attention mentors and teachers: you matter
Hopefully everyone can idenfity a person who helped them to build skills and character and become more successful. These mentors are oftentimes more important than friends or family because they encourage us to overcome obstacles in our thinking that prevent us from putting our talents into the world. Here's a great list of famous people and their mentors from the Harvard Mentors Project, take a look.
I've been reading a little bit by the Dalai Lama and the Buddhists believe we are reborn many times until we learn to transcend suffering. One thing I have been thinking about is how our actions affect other people - the 'vibe' we give off translates to other people feeling worthy or worthless, scared or safe, joyful or depressed. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that our actions don't matter, that nobody sees or cares what we do. But the truth is we have enormous power to inspire, motivate and support one another, if we choose. As Yeats once wrote:
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
I've been reading a little bit by the Dalai Lama and the Buddhists believe we are reborn many times until we learn to transcend suffering. One thing I have been thinking about is how our actions affect other people - the 'vibe' we give off translates to other people feeling worthy or worthless, scared or safe, joyful or depressed. Sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that our actions don't matter, that nobody sees or cares what we do. But the truth is we have enormous power to inspire, motivate and support one another, if we choose. As Yeats once wrote:
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Busy Bee
The RiVA machine is working overtime right now, planning for summer and trying to get ye olde Victorian beauty at 702 Main prepared for its Dooryard debut. In the meantime, we've applied for our charity status (meaning we will *fingers crossed* be able to issue tax receipts for donations), completed our first AGM and welcomed new board members.
It's unbelievable how different the preparations feel this year - this time last year we didn't even know where to rent a large outdoor tent, knew nothing about permits, codes, by-laws or zoning (and believe me, there's a LOT to know), and weren't even incorporated. So, with 70% of this year's festival confirmed, we're an excited bunch. I can feel the community support starting to appear; maybe some people are curious to see what they missed last summer.
A brief list of things I've learned:
1. Most people are nice and want to help.
2. You will have to do it yourself at first.
3. Be patient. Then wait longer and be more patient.
4. Look for the right helpers and find the right job for them to do. This makes life wonderful and you have company in addition to help.
5. Change is possible but it moves at such a slow rate as to be nearly inconceivable in the short-term.
6. All successes are worth celebrating.
7. Passion can move mountains, if you're patient (see #3).
It's unbelievable how different the preparations feel this year - this time last year we didn't even know where to rent a large outdoor tent, knew nothing about permits, codes, by-laws or zoning (and believe me, there's a LOT to know), and weren't even incorporated. So, with 70% of this year's festival confirmed, we're an excited bunch. I can feel the community support starting to appear; maybe some people are curious to see what they missed last summer.
A brief list of things I've learned:
1. Most people are nice and want to help.
2. You will have to do it yourself at first.
3. Be patient. Then wait longer and be more patient.
4. Look for the right helpers and find the right job for them to do. This makes life wonderful and you have company in addition to help.
5. Change is possible but it moves at such a slow rate as to be nearly inconceivable in the short-term.
6. All successes are worth celebrating.
7. Passion can move mountains, if you're patient (see #3).
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
This pretty much sums it up
But what about your pension? Your benefits?
When I left teaching, a lot of people asked me these questions. Here's a look at other people who have left the 9-5 life, because they realize that
your well-being is not tied to finances. It’s tied to relationships, it’s tied to skills it’s tied to creativity, resourcefulness and a sense of peace, intellectual challenge – these are the things that enable our well-being,” she says.
It doesn't seem that radical to me, but in an era where GDP rules it's an awkward thing to explain sometimes.
When I left teaching, a lot of people asked me these questions. Here's a look at other people who have left the 9-5 life, because they realize that
your well-being is not tied to finances. It’s tied to relationships, it’s tied to skills it’s tied to creativity, resourcefulness and a sense of peace, intellectual challenge – these are the things that enable our well-being,” she says.
It doesn't seem that radical to me, but in an era where GDP rules it's an awkward thing to explain sometimes.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Real change for the real world
Ken Robinson is right, education is one of those topics that "goes deep with people." Public education is such a complicated undertaking and we have industrialized our schools much in the same way we have factories and farming. The end result of this is that students who are not in the middle of the bell curve are often stigmatized - and this takes place for both "gifted" kids and kids who "struggle."
In reality, I believe that all kids are intelligent and talented; the problem comes from a system that won't/can't accomodate different kinds of learning. Temple Grandin takes on the subject of Autistic learners in this great talk. Mentors, unite!
I would love to see some down-home, hands-on experiential learning here in New Brunswick. I think the best thing we can do for our young people is share our knowledge, skills and passion for our work. I wish we were better at that.
In reality, I believe that all kids are intelligent and talented; the problem comes from a system that won't/can't accomodate different kinds of learning. Temple Grandin takes on the subject of Autistic learners in this great talk. Mentors, unite!
I would love to see some down-home, hands-on experiential learning here in New Brunswick. I think the best thing we can do for our young people is share our knowledge, skills and passion for our work. I wish we were better at that.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
The theatre is the best social secretary of the law
So says David Hare, the English playwright who writes plays based on current events such as the invasion of Iraq and the financial crisis of 2008. Great thoughts on politics, economics, Shakespeare, and how power inevitably has its own way. To hear the podcast, click on "Writers and Company" and scroll down to David Hare.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
There goes another piece of the neighbourhood
Well. I left town for one day and came home only to discover that Joel Rose had the Broadway School demolished. First, the facts:
1. JR has owned the school for years.
2. All he had to do was request a demo permit and there's nothing anyone could do. That's how this private property thing works.
3. There are currently no heritage by-laws in Woodstock to prevent this from happening.
As for hearsay, I head that JR had attempted to reconfigure the building as apartments, but thought that the cost of bringing the building up to code (we're talking elevators, electrical overhaul, h-vac etc.) was too much. Apparently he has 'no future plans' for the site - I'm guessing it was torn down so he wouldn't have to continue to pay property taxes. All of which is his business, except....
When the Wesylan church was torn down, it was the Weslyan congregation's business, and the same for all those other historic buildings Woodstock continues to lose. And people inevitably get upset but there is no way to channel the loss people experience when a beautiful and still structurally sound old building gets replaced by a newer, uglier chunk of vinyl. Our collective heritage is going the way of the dodo.
If we planned a forum about preserving historic buildings, would anybody come? This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. If we're serious as a community about our built heritage, we need to get off the couch (or in my case, offline!) and do something about it. And I don't just mean complain. I mean come up with workable real-world solutions to alleviate the problem.
If you're game, let me know. If not, see you on facebook.
1. JR has owned the school for years.
2. All he had to do was request a demo permit and there's nothing anyone could do. That's how this private property thing works.
3. There are currently no heritage by-laws in Woodstock to prevent this from happening.
As for hearsay, I head that JR had attempted to reconfigure the building as apartments, but thought that the cost of bringing the building up to code (we're talking elevators, electrical overhaul, h-vac etc.) was too much. Apparently he has 'no future plans' for the site - I'm guessing it was torn down so he wouldn't have to continue to pay property taxes. All of which is his business, except....
When the Wesylan church was torn down, it was the Weslyan congregation's business, and the same for all those other historic buildings Woodstock continues to lose. And people inevitably get upset but there is no way to channel the loss people experience when a beautiful and still structurally sound old building gets replaced by a newer, uglier chunk of vinyl. Our collective heritage is going the way of the dodo.
If we planned a forum about preserving historic buildings, would anybody come? This is something I have been thinking about for a long time. If we're serious as a community about our built heritage, we need to get off the couch (or in my case, offline!) and do something about it. And I don't just mean complain. I mean come up with workable real-world solutions to alleviate the problem.
If you're game, let me know. If not, see you on facebook.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
So Sue Me
I taught public school for three years without obtaining the B. Ed. degree. One of the courses the province made me take was school law, where I found out that teachers can be sued by anyone, at any time, for anything. Later in my short teaching career, the Grade 7 trip to the waterslides was cancelled for fear of lawsuits. Last summer, after I had resigned from public teaching, our non-profit organization got itself tangled up in zoning and building permit red tape.
Legalities are everywhere, and everyone is terrified of that next lawsuit, which seems always to be just around the corner. Here's one lawyer's proposal on how to restore the law to its rightful state of protecting common freedoms instead of hindering them.
Legalities are everywhere, and everyone is terrified of that next lawsuit, which seems always to be just around the corner. Here's one lawyer's proposal on how to restore the law to its rightful state of protecting common freedoms instead of hindering them.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Africville: a proper apology
Halifax Mayor Peter Kelly will apologize to former residents of Africville who were evicted and their homes bulldozed in the 1960's. A bridge was built where their community used to be.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
RiVA takes it to the streets....and youtube
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
One for all my homeboys in the woods
My grandfather shoed horses for men who worked in the woods and my dad worked in the woods. Working in the woods is the New Brunswick way.
So, here's a cute little video for all you NB girls who 'get' what she's singing about. I can't imagine the liability insurance this guy would need in today's day and age.
So, here's a cute little video for all you NB girls who 'get' what she's singing about. I can't imagine the liability insurance this guy would need in today's day and age.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
The heavy hitters and I agree, for once.....
Great article on the themes coming out of the World Economic Forum meetings in Davos. While I am always concerned that too much power is concentrated in the hands of too few people, I think these observations are very astute. The trends discussed in this article will continue to be relevant, methinks.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Re-thinking the Hallmark Holiday
I'm not much for Valetines' Day - one year my lovely sister and I decided we were going to have the anti-Valentine's Day. So we drank some beer, ate Doritos and watched Sigourney Weaver shoot aliens in outer space. Fun times.
But on a more serious note, with Valentine's Day coming up I read this essay and starting thinking about women and how they get treated sometimes. Thankfully, misogyny and sexism have not been part of my everyday experiences. In fact, the phrase that we heard from our father most often growing up was "Why can't you fellas show a little initiative and help your mother out?" So, let's get those dishes done, shall we?
I was raised in a family with three girls, which meant that we didn't have any brothers around to fix things, lift heavy stuff or tell us how to behave. With two egalitarian parents, gender roles were not especially defined and now, as adults, my sisters and I haul amplifiers, load trailers with horses, finish drywall, cook, and take care of whatever else life demands.
But still, there was the time I applied for a mortgage and was told (by a woman, no less) that "that's not the way this normally works. Usually a man and a woman get married, and the woman has a baby, and then they buy a house." Not in my world, lady!
So, as Valentine's Day approaches, take a minute and think about the women in your life, what they have accomplished and how they are treated. Most people are caring and just, but there are still examples where women deserve more respect - and respect is the most powerful way to show your love for someone else, no brand name required.
But on a more serious note, with Valentine's Day coming up I read this essay and starting thinking about women and how they get treated sometimes. Thankfully, misogyny and sexism have not been part of my everyday experiences. In fact, the phrase that we heard from our father most often growing up was "Why can't you fellas show a little initiative and help your mother out?" So, let's get those dishes done, shall we?
I was raised in a family with three girls, which meant that we didn't have any brothers around to fix things, lift heavy stuff or tell us how to behave. With two egalitarian parents, gender roles were not especially defined and now, as adults, my sisters and I haul amplifiers, load trailers with horses, finish drywall, cook, and take care of whatever else life demands.
But still, there was the time I applied for a mortgage and was told (by a woman, no less) that "that's not the way this normally works. Usually a man and a woman get married, and the woman has a baby, and then they buy a house." Not in my world, lady!
So, as Valentine's Day approaches, take a minute and think about the women in your life, what they have accomplished and how they are treated. Most people are caring and just, but there are still examples where women deserve more respect - and respect is the most powerful way to show your love for someone else, no brand name required.
Monday, January 25, 2010
You said it
"No one can fix all of Haiti, everyone has to fix his own part." A look at how one street in Port-au-Prince is coping.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Work, babies, families, and salaries: changes on the horizon
Here's a great article from the New York Times about the changing trends in birthrates, employment and attitudes towards children in Europe and the U.S. Apparently most schools in Germany have been dismissing at noon ever since schooling became mandatory 250 years ago. Now that's beginning to change because women want to be working or have to be employed to make ends meet.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
A smart internet commentor?
I find the Globe and Mail's online comment boards particularly depressing. Rarely do I read anything other than lots of partisan hacks accusing each other of partisan-hackery. But this guy, who ever he is, is smart. Here's what mystery commentator-man says about NB Power Sale, the sequel (coming soon to a political theatre near you):
When it comes to Plan B, the devil will definitely be in the details. The political about-face on the ownership of the grid is a major victory for New Brunswickers who were justifiably concerned that the original deal would have compromised provincial sovreignty and deprived future governments of any control over rates in the long term.
When it comes to Plan B, the devil will definitely be in the details. The political about-face on the ownership of the grid is a major victory for New Brunswickers who were justifiably concerned that the original deal would have compromised provincial sovreignty and deprived future governments of any control over rates in the long term.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Lamrock: No Deal
It apppears the anger is starting to hit home. Shawn Graham's #2 man has said he won't support the deal in its current form. Apparently many other ministers and members of caucus feel this way too. Shawn Graham has a revolt on his hands: without the support of his caucus he's dead in the water (in the political sense).
Resign now, Mr. Graham. The people of NB and your colleagues have had enough. It's time to scrap this deal and move on to fixing a valuable Crown Corporation that belongs to the people of New Brunswick.
One final word of skepticism - Graham may pull a last-ditch attempt at 'revamping' the deal to try and save his hide. Whether we hear "my kingdom for a horse" or not, we need to keep an eye on a government whose only remaining fuel is desperation. NO means NO - not for sale.
Resign now, Mr. Graham. The people of NB and your colleagues have had enough. It's time to scrap this deal and move on to fixing a valuable Crown Corporation that belongs to the people of New Brunswick.
One final word of skepticism - Graham may pull a last-ditch attempt at 'revamping' the deal to try and save his hide. Whether we hear "my kingdom for a horse" or not, we need to keep an eye on a government whose only remaining fuel is desperation. NO means NO - not for sale.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
One Chimpanzee Does Not Make a Chimpanzee
I heard this line in a couple of days ago and it's rolling around in the back of my brain.
We are a social animal, and we need other people to make us who we are. Listen to this great podcast about "attachment," which Susan Johnson believes will be the most influential psychological theory of the new century. It stands opposed to behaviorism (ie. Pavlov's dogs) and Freudian psychoanalysis (ie. Oedipus et al).
As Johnson says early on, it's basically a theory of love, but the man who came up with it couldn't call it that because he would have been ridiculed. Teaching public school, we heard a lot of mumblings about "attachment disorders" - students who couldn't trust anyone, were oppositional, and didn't know how to interact with others in a positive way. The research backing attachment theory shows that babies who don't get proper emotional nurturing don't develop properly, either emotionally or intellectually.
So, now we've reached the point where science is beginning to put names and theories on our intuitions - that mothers and babies need lots of time together, that every human needs other emotional connections, whether 7 years old or 75. Until we abandon the ridiculous macho notion that we are better off doing everything for ourselves, we will continue to flounder as a group.
This ties into much of what I think about New Brunswickers - we're very geographically isolated from one another. And when you go to meetings (if you're lucky enough to be on a committee) it takes forever, because people aren't really there to conduct business. They're there to enjoy each other's company and to remember they're not alone in this world.
We are a social animal, and we need other people to make us who we are. Listen to this great podcast about "attachment," which Susan Johnson believes will be the most influential psychological theory of the new century. It stands opposed to behaviorism (ie. Pavlov's dogs) and Freudian psychoanalysis (ie. Oedipus et al).
As Johnson says early on, it's basically a theory of love, but the man who came up with it couldn't call it that because he would have been ridiculed. Teaching public school, we heard a lot of mumblings about "attachment disorders" - students who couldn't trust anyone, were oppositional, and didn't know how to interact with others in a positive way. The research backing attachment theory shows that babies who don't get proper emotional nurturing don't develop properly, either emotionally or intellectually.
So, now we've reached the point where science is beginning to put names and theories on our intuitions - that mothers and babies need lots of time together, that every human needs other emotional connections, whether 7 years old or 75. Until we abandon the ridiculous macho notion that we are better off doing everything for ourselves, we will continue to flounder as a group.
This ties into much of what I think about New Brunswickers - we're very geographically isolated from one another. And when you go to meetings (if you're lucky enough to be on a committee) it takes forever, because people aren't really there to conduct business. They're there to enjoy each other's company and to remember they're not alone in this world.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Fundamentalism, by any other name
We were in the Old Home Week parade last August, and what struck me most was the facial expressions of people watching the parade. They didn't show any emotion: no pleasure or displeasure, recognition, fear, amusement, nothing. Very strange, to be on display in public in front of people who seemed totally immune from any kind of reaction. Like you were the television and they were passively 'viewing' but not engaged.
Great article from a Yemeni man in the Globe and Mail - talking about his family's gradual transition from progressive values to Wahabi-style fundamentalism. The paragraph that struck me most:
Collectively they have become television addicts. Satellite TV, featuring hundreds of channels from the Arab world and beyond, has taken over from reading and socializing as the main form of entertainment. Why? Because among the many channels you can watch are the more Islamist ones (Hezbollah's Manar TV, for example) that promote a rigid version of the faith.
I often wonder about the worlds we close out - for example, how we don't gather in public anymore, we go to people's houses. There's a thriving business in Christian subculture sanitizing Hollywood movies- removing all swearing, nudity or violence to make them 'safe' for viewing. I think media - be it TV, the intermet, movies, plays a huge role in shaping our realities. And it's interesting to see that it's the same phenomenon in Yemen - except it's not American Idol, it's Manar TV.
Great article from a Yemeni man in the Globe and Mail - talking about his family's gradual transition from progressive values to Wahabi-style fundamentalism. The paragraph that struck me most:
Collectively they have become television addicts. Satellite TV, featuring hundreds of channels from the Arab world and beyond, has taken over from reading and socializing as the main form of entertainment. Why? Because among the many channels you can watch are the more Islamist ones (Hezbollah's Manar TV, for example) that promote a rigid version of the faith.
I often wonder about the worlds we close out - for example, how we don't gather in public anymore, we go to people's houses. There's a thriving business in Christian subculture sanitizing Hollywood movies- removing all swearing, nudity or violence to make them 'safe' for viewing. I think media - be it TV, the intermet, movies, plays a huge role in shaping our realities. And it's interesting to see that it's the same phenomenon in Yemen - except it's not American Idol, it's Manar TV.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
He oughta know.
So, the former 'top economist in Canada' thinks we've already reached peak oil, and are going back to local sooner rather than later. As in $7 per gallon gasoline. Great interview.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Music and poverty - making the connection
In 1975 in Venezuela, a man named Jose Abreu began rehearsing an orchestra in a parking garage. Thirty years later his "Sistema" has changed the lives of tens of thousands of Venezuelans, and produced some of the finest classical musicians on the planet.
This fall, Moncton became the first "Sistema" pilot site in Canada.
This fall, Moncton became the first "Sistema" pilot site in Canada.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)