Of course, that's the opening line of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, who was quite an extraordinary woman -- a feminist and an abolitionist and a woman who supported her family "with her pen" in a time when that was not the common role for a woman (of course, doing it by writing is still pretty uncommon).
I saw the new iteration of "Little Women" (directed by Greta Gerwig and featuring Saorise ) yesterday and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It had a lot of energy (which I think the book does as well) and all the performances were great and it looked sumptuous with snowy Concord and sunny France and gritty New York. I have never read the actual book, amazingly, so I scooted out and got it. Jo is an unusual character, uncompromising and sometimes difficult to like (at least, this is me talking after reading two chapters and seeing several movie versions of the story, so perhaps I'll change my mind after finishing the book). I knew the story well and remember wondering about some of Jo's choices (I won't ruin the story, because I'm sure some of you plan to see it, or maybe, READ THE BOOK, like I am now) but I think the movie deals pretty well with Jo and how unusual she is and how difficult it would have been for someone like her to make her way. It conflates Louisa May Alcott with Jo (and of course, I don't think there's any doubt that a lot of Jo is Louisa May Alcott anyway) and helps us see things through a writerly perspective. Anyway, the movie is highly recommended by me and is a charming addition to the lexicon of festive movies that don't really involve Christmas much, despite the first line of the book.
I also saw Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story" (with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson). I thought it was quite good and showed the challenges of two people who still love each other in a way, but not in the way that makes them want to be married anymore. They have a young son and their love of him and their desire to continue to be his parents is what makes the thing so heartbreaking. I can't imagine having to let another person, even a person I loved, take my son away to another part of the country and be in charge of him and me not be in the day to day. It is hard enough to be a parent and feel like you're helping and raising the child to be a good person, but not to see them every day and sit down to dinner with them and read to them and disagree with them and then resolve it (which you'd probably be afraid to do, if you only saw them on weekends or on holidays) -- that would be horrible. You and your partner are adults, so it's sad that your relationship is over and you would feel badly, but you would be able to regroup and move on, but I don't know how you would bear it if you had to lose your child's time as well. The most painful scene was when Charlie (Adam Driver) comes to Los Angeles and he wants to take Henry trick or treating on Hallowe'en and Henry has already gone with his mom and his cousins and doesn't really want to go again, but Charlie is determined that they're going to go and it isn't a success. You understand Charlie, but you want to intervene and tell him that he has to give in, but of course, Charlie is in the moment and you are at that omniscient distance.
I hope you're all enjoying your holidays (if you're having them and not busy working). I am taking it very easy and reading a lot and staying cosy. Are you making any New Year's Resolutions? I made two the other day. I am going to write daily (I think I have resolved this before) -- I have a really good idea for a play (maybe for next year's first show) called "I Shot Santa" about an artistic girl who is bullied by her two friends with whom she has kind of a girl band. I wrote the lyrics for the song "I Shot Santa" the other day and have this idea that the play will trace their relationship from their childhood to adulthood with the scenes all happening around the holidays.
My other resolution is to check my email once a day only. I check it more than that and it's a waste of time. I will be 63 tomorrow and time is getting more and more important as I age. Instead of looking at my old emails, I could write a scene of "I Shot Santa"!
The other day, our question of the day was your favourite holiday song, and this is the one I chose. I have been watching a lot of my favourite Christmas movies these days and I watched "White Christmas" last weekend, and old Bing Crosby sings this one to Rosemary Clooney (I believe she is George Clooney's aunt -- I wonder if he can sing like an angel, like she can) and they are both (Bing and Rosemary) terrific singers and the song has a lovely, Kosar-style philosophy. I am sure I've told you about my mom saying to "count your blessings". It's like keeping a gratitude journal -- you can't feel sorry for yourself for long when you start to count your blessings. Maybe things aren't just the way you'd like them to be, but you have a lot going for you, if only that you live in a warm house and get to eat when you want and are safe in Canada. The birds and the stars and the river and the trees are all free to look at and enjoy.
We have made it through the year at school and have managed to make it to the end of December with no major mishaps. It was great to see old kids at Breakfast with Santa and all the acts I saw were amazing! I am so impressed with our Mudsharks band. We are really lucky at our school to have such talented musicians among us. What a wonderful set they treated us to! Thanks to them for kicking off the holidays in such a stellar fashion.
Now we have two full weeks before we must trudge back to the halls of Steveston-London. I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday with lots of cheer and warmth and good food and good company and good books (one of my favourite parts of the holidays). One of the blessings I count when I can't sleep is my great good fortune to have work I love and to be able to spend my days with energetic and enthusiastic young folks like yourselves.
Don't forget to bring $5 to pay for your ticket for the play. The money goes to the Drama Club!
Memorize your lines for The Creation of the World.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SHOW AND TELL: You should be preparing your "show and tell" speeches! Practice your speech OUT LOUD and make sure you have two minutes of material! This is very important. It should not be more than two minutes (more is not better) and it should not be less than two minutes.
You will stand centre stage and not fidget! You will appear to be confident. You may use cue cards, or even have your whole speech written out, but you must make eye contact with the audience. You must speak clearly and make sure I can hear you and understand you from the back of the theatre. Think about communicating to the audience. Tell them a story that features your item. Showing the item is not enough!
You may speak about anything you like, but if it is not allowed at school, you will have to show a photo or picture of it.
You MUST not start the speech with "so" or end it with "yeah". Think of a joke or a quotation or a question to start things out and then at the end come to a conclusion -- "this is what I learned", "this is why this thing is so important to me", "as you can see, it is important to 'look before you leap'. Something like that.
Use something that inspires a story to tell. Just describing the item will not engage your audience. That's the basis of theatre - a good story. We've talked at length about how the plot line works -- that will help you here. If you are interested in the story, we will be, too, so choose something that inspires a good story.
This is a chance for you to demonstrate that you are a good public speaker! Make sure you have TWO MINUTES of material. Don't speak too fast! We will present these speeches at the end of the term in January.
Grade 8: How do you think the world was created? Could you make a play about it? Explain how. Describe what you would do in detail. How did your group decide the cast of your performance of The Creation of the World? Where, in the story, would be a good place for a tableau? Where would you put a mime? What do you think the end of the story means (when it says "ever since, all children born of Man contain Mutima, a longing for God")?
Is there anyone you would like to work with in the theatre sports/improv group?
Grade 9/10:
What are the rules of theatre sports? (Name at least three.) What is your favourite game? Explain why.
With whom would you like to work for the theatre sports tournament?
Senior Drama:
Which of all the improvs we've done is your favourite? Explain why. Who is the best improvisor in the class? Explain why you choose the way you do.
We have a great opportunity this week to see a wonderful play by the greatest playwright, William Shakespeare. The play is "As You Like It", which includes the speech we all learn in grade 8. It is a great comedy with terrific relatable characters, a big wrestling match and lots of romance. There are two performances today (Thursday) and one on Friday. Try to see one of the remaining performances.
Journal:
If you see "As You Like It", write a review of it. Say what you liked and what could have been improved. Try to make specific comments about particular actors or scenes, or the set (spectacularly designed and built by Mr. Price), the idea to have the first act in the Williams lounge, anything that you would like to discuss.
If you absolutely can't see the play, then write about another play you've seen. Include the name of the play and where you saw it (even if it was just at school). Follow the instructions above.
If you were in the play, write about the experience -- rehearsals and performances.
Grade 8: On a scale of 1 - 5 (with 1 being "not good at all" and 5 being excellent), how would you rate yourself as a group member? Explain your answer. What did you contribute to the musical tableaus? Are you a good leader? Explain. Write about a time you had to work in a group and what you learned from the experience.
Remember, D Block -- I am taking you to the play on Thursday at 1. Please bring $5 for your ticket! The money goes to support the drama club, so we can keep doing great plays for our school.
Drama 9/10: Write a review of your heritage play. Give the play a name (for example, "Time Marches On" or something like that) and then write about how it went describing particular scenes, actors, the use of music, the staging, whatever you want to comment on. Include both things you thought were successful and things that you wish had gone differently.
Senior Drama: Martin Scorsese (the great director of "Taxi Driver", "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas", "The Age of Innocence" and many great movies, including this year's "The Irishman") has said this about Marvel movies: "Cinema is an art form that brings you the unexpected. In superhero movies, nothing is at risk." He goes on in this vein, "[refering] to Marvel movies as “amusement parks” and [listing] how they are devoid of “revelation, mystery or genuine emotional danger,” and that the “pictures are made to satisfy a specific set of demands, and they are designed as variations on a finite number of themes.” Comment on this idea. Do you like Marvel movies? Do you think they follow a pattern? Are the characters interesting? (Describe one you like, if you can. If you don't like the characters, say why.) Do all movies explore a finite number of themes and satisfy specific demands? Try to be thoughtful in your answer.
I think we made excellent progress over the last two days, but we still have a long way to go. You all need to go back to your scripts and learn the lines as they are written. Some of you are not saying what the script says (and of course, many of you are still too dependent on your scripts). This weekend, take out your book and really work on learning what Shakespeare has given you. It is better than anything you can improvise!
Firstly, thanks to those of you who came early to paint. It was a big job and it feels great to have done it. Dina, perhaps you could pass on to the other theatre production students that we will paint the trees on Monday, so they should wear paint clothes.
Check the schedule for the next two weeks! You need to make arrangements to be at every rehearsal and do not surprise me on the day before a performance by telling me you have an orthodontist appointment or something, because we have to be sure you are there for every performance! You don't need to ask permission to be out of class on matinee days -- I will tell all your teachers you are in the play.
Sufiah, we need front of house crew and people backstage to follow the script and cue people. There isn't much anyone needs to do as far as set changes go.
Costume-wise: This is modern dress, so don't worry about what period it is supposed to be. Mr. Price wants monochrome for the city (lounge) and trendy, cool stuff that looks stylish. Then, when we go to the forest of Arden, it should be Mountain Equipment Co-op -- "hiking clothes", but stylish and with your character in mind. If you don't have anything, ask Sufiah -- we have lots of stuff in the prop room.
Props are on the prop table now. If a prop isn't there that you need, let me know. Actors, PUT YOUR PROPS BACK ON THE PROP TABLE WHEN YOU FINISH WITH THEM. Ask Ms. Kosar about her first time being props master and how the actor kept losing the "turd" that was so important in the play!
I have made some cuts -- we want the show to be under two hours and these cuts don't take away from the sense of the story, but take out what the audience might not understand joke-wise or philosophy-wise. I might have to make more and it is nothing about your performances but just what can be eliminated without affecting character development and story.
Cuts:
Act 1, scene 2: from Rosalind's speech "Nay, thou goest from Fortune's office" to Celia's speech "whetstone of the wits".
Act 2, scene 7: Jacques: lines 45-57 ("provided that you weed . . . glances of the fool") and lines 79 - 87 ("Or what is he of basest function . . . Unclaimed of any man")
Act 4, scene 1: Rosalind: "Troilus hand had his brains . . .But these are all lies"
Act 5, scene 2: Rosalind: "Know of me then . . . grace me."
Notes on the two runs:
Act 1, scene 1: Adam: be very hurt at "old dog"
Oliver: really try to ingratiate yourself with Charles COME ON TIME TO REHEARSAL!
Great entrance, Le Beau! Everyone needs to react to the story about the family of wrestlers that gets hurt.
Great warmup, Charles
Project HUGELY in the lounge.
Orlando -- great on "Frederick"
Celia -- be silly right from the start -- very silly; "trodden" has a short "o" as in "dog"
Make sure, when you have a big speech, that you get into the centre of the lounge, belt it out and turn around so everyone can see you. The audience will be all around you (this is called "theatre in the round").
"Sir Roe-land" as in "show", not as in "ouch"
Charles, I think long pants, sweats, leggings, rather than shorts
"Ay" is pronounced "I"
When in a group on stage (lords), arrange yourselves in a nice stage picture.
Act 2, scene 3: be more doddering, Adam -- really push this all the way.
"Buried" is pronounced "berried"
Lords, get the audience to go into the theatre and help them find seats
Act 2
scene 1: project over the sound, try to avoid turning your back to the audience, and project if you must turn away (but don't)
Lords: be hearty!
When Jaques is mentioned, everyone is amused.
Samantha, when you quote Jaques, mock him.
Celia and Ros: enjoy Touchstone, that's why you brought him along -- so he could amuse you. Sufiah, let's find James a hat
Corin, great idea to sleep! Well done.
"Jove, Jove, passion" -- she's quoting a song lyric.
scene 5: NO PHONES ON STAGE!
Sabrina, good reaction to mistake -- she's just playing and singing for her friends, so that's exactly what you would do. Make it part of the performance, as if you (as the actor) planned it.
Can you speed up the tempo, Sabrina? Use the lords as your audience and try singing some of it to them.
On second verse, all lords join in on "Come hither"
Everyone laugh when Amiens says to Jaques, "it will make you melancholy" because he already is.
Jaques, make sure you're clear on "turn ass" because that's a joke! Big elaborate bow after you sing. Make your ignorance big -- "stanzo" and "ducdame"
When Amiens says, "Sirs, cover the while" -- two lords go into the hut and bring out the bench for the lunch.
Scene 6: maybe "WAAA!" Adam?
scene 7: Lords, put the food on the bench.
Jaques: Make each stage of life different and imitate the voice of the person in that stage (like a baby's voice, a little kid's voice, Nolan's voice as Silvius (for the lover), the soldier -- very macho). You are trapping yourself in the "melancholy", I think, and getting into a repetitive delivery style. Try to laugh at yourself, get angry at people, sigh heavily -- think of a variety of ways that people express their disappointment with their friends and the world at large.
Lords, join in on second "Heigh ho" and clap, not snap (having heard both, I've decided)
Lords -- when Duke Senior exits, take the food!
Act 3
scene 1: Lords, you should be there (at least two of you)
scene 2: Orlando, stick the poems everywhere! (There are stickies on the prop table) -- if anyone wants to write a silly love poem to Rosalind, write it on a sticky!
Touchstone -- DICTION! Bigger thrust on the copulation speech
Lords, come into the theatre and react to jokes from Jaques and Orlando
Orlando, when you change the subject abruptly, find motivation for it. Tease him, Rosalind. Everyone, don't come too far downstage -- you aren't in the light; on the high platform, come as far forward as possible.
KEEP THE BANTER, JOKES FAST! Going slowly kills it.
scene 3: PROJECT!
scene 4:
lineaments -- pronounced lin ee ah ments
nice on "brave", Celia
scene 5: great scene, Silvius and Phebe -- but come as far forward on upper platform as you can and don't linger there too long -- it is so hard to light!
DAmask - great, Phebe
"Dead shepherd" -- this is a reference to Christopher Marlowe and a poem he wrote so say it like a quote - "oh, now I understand Marlowe's poem!"
Act 4
scene 1: "Wit, wither wilt?" - good
scene 2: We need lots of lords here and hearty singing (it doesn't have to be good, just hearty!)
scene 3: Silvius, you are afraid of Ganymede, but you don't cringe -- try to pretend you aren't afraid. You are very curious about what is in the letter and when you find out, you are crushed. Good crying.
Celia, when you see Oliver, let your mouth drop open, like "wow" and then walk slowly towards him as you speak.
Oliver, to Celia's right, when you tell the story - don't drop your voice and don't turn away -- really act what happens. There is a bloody napkin on the prop table.
Sort out the exit. To whom are you speaking? Be sure you know.
Act 5
scene 1: nice scene -- Audrey, when you fight with Touchstone, face us (not away)!
Touchstone -- always use the audience!
scene 2: Orlando and Oliver -- how are you such buddies after all the strife? can you motivate this? Oliver is grateful to Orlando for saving him. Maybe Orlando is just so happy to have some family to love that he's eager to be liked. Try to show us what's going on.
Orlando needs a sling for his arm.
scene 3: Audrey, this is a sign that Touchstone is not going to be a good husband. Look concerned.
scene 4: great on the "Lie Direct" scene, everyone! That really helps the audience understand. Do it to the audience and don't look back, Touchstone.
When Hymen and the girls enter, everyone give them full focus. Really react!
Dina, the sound board has blue tooth -- can we do that rather than using the plug in? I am concerned that the plug in is sounding rather muffled.
That's it! LEARN YOUR LINES! (Have I said that before?)
Let's all resolve to do our journals in a timely manner this semester. When I give you time to write in class, take advantage of it and write your journal! We'll all be happier for it in January.
Senior Drama: What are your thoughts on Remembrance Day? Does it have any meaning for you? Do you think it should be changed in any way? What purpose does it serve? Is there ever a time when war is the best answer to a problem? Explain.
Drama 9/10: How do music, light, costumes, sets and props help a scene? Think of at least three ways and explain your answer.
Drama 8: What should Ms. Kosar know about you? Include past drama experience (if any), whether you have stage fright or not, whether you have ever performed in front of an audience (as a musician, athlete, actor, any public performance), and anything else you might want to tell me so I can teach you better!
That is from a poem by Laurence Binyon about World War I. I saw the UBC production of "The Wars" on Saturday night and it was terrific. The set was completely open and you could see the artifice of the stage very clearly -- they used a drop cloth for the trenches and the roads and the dikes of Holland. You could even see the person doing the sounds, right there on the stage -- it was hand made, not electronic, which I really liked.
Sound was very important for the play -- there are lots of references to animals throughout the novel and the play -- the main character, Robert Ross, loves animals and he pays a great price in trying to protect them -- and so animal sounds linked many of the scenes, from his life at home in Canada to the horrors of the trenches. At one point in the play, the sounds disappear and the soldiers wonder why it's suddenly quiet. I knew, because of the stories of my mother about her uncles who fought in the trenches, that silence was terrifying, because it was a precursor to the gas. My mother's uncle, David, was a victim of a gas attack. He survived, but he was never healthy after that and had trouble breathing and eating for the rest of his life.
I mentioned before that the actor playing Robert Ross was our own David Volpov. He was outstanding in the role, which required him to be very vulnerable and open to the audience, just as we watched him change through his experiences as a soldier. David has always been a very brave actor and I was so impressed at how he took all of us in the audience down the terrible path that Robert Ross had to walk through the play. He is a young innocent fragile Canadian boy at the beginning of the play and we see him struggle to lead his men and face the horror of man's cruelty while he attempts to hold onto a vestige of himself. It is a remarkable performance, and I hope some of you will be able to see it before the play closes on November 23.
Don't miss our own David Volpov in Timothy Findley's classic Canadian story, "The Wars", adapted for the stage by Dennis Garnhum and directed by Lois Anderson running this month at UBC's Frederic Wood Theatre. David was one of SLSS's finest actors -- who can forget his hilarious Flute in our terrific production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? He went on to play many terrific characters on our little stage and is now pursuing his acting goals at UBC. The show opens at 7:30 pm on November 7 and runs until November 23 at the Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC. What a great play to present as we near Remembrance Day! It explores the journey of Robert Ross who leaves his safe life in Canada to fight in the trenches in World War I. Don't miss it!
Senior Drama will be presenting "The Trial of Lizzie Borden" on Monday and Tuesday next week in C Block. After the shows, I would like you to all write your reflections on how things went. Hand it in next Friday! (If your parents or relatives would like to see one of the shows, they are welcome to come. Just tell them the time for C Block on the day they'd like to come.)
Drama 9/10: What does "care and respect" mean to you? Give an example of how you have learned to show "care and respect".
Drama 8: What have you chosen to speak about for the show and tell speeches? Why did you choose the item you did? (Make sure you have two minutes of material and that you speak clearly and project your voice!)
We will be performing the Aesop plays on Thursday and Friday.
Grade 8's: You should be preparing your "show and tell" speeches! Practice your speech OUT LOUD and make sure you have two minutes of material! This is very important. It should not be more than two minutes (more is not better) and it should not be less than two minutes.
You will stand centre stage and not fidget! You will appear to be confident. You may use cue cards, or even have your whole speech written out, but you must make eye contact with the audience. You must speak clearly and make sure I can hear you and understand you from the back of the theatre. Think about communicating to the audience. Tell them a story that features your item. Showing the item is not enough!
You may speak about anything you like, but if it is not allowed at school, you will have to show a photo or picture of it.
You MUST not start the speech with "so" or end it with "yeah". Think of a joke or a quotation or a question to start things out and then at the end come to a conclusion -- "this is what I learned", "this is why this thing is so important to me", "as you can see, it is important to 'look before you leap'. Something like that.
Use something that inspires a story to tell. Just describing the item will not engage your audience. That's the basis of theatre - a good story. We've talked at length about how the plot line works -- that will help you here. If you are interested in the story, we will be, too, so choose something that inspires a good story.
This is a chance for you to demonstrate that you are a good public speaker! Make sure you have TWO MINUTES of material. Don't speak too fast!
Write a review of one of the Creation of the World performances. Give your review a catchy title -- not "Creation of the World" review. The first paragraph should describe details about the performance -- who played the different characters, where the story came from, etc. The second paragraph should say what you liked best and what you think should be improved and describe both in detail. The third paragraph should say whether it was worth seeing and say why.
Grade 9/10:
Imagine yourself as one of the characters in one of the stories you're performing (not your own story). What motivates that character? What emotions does the character feel? Have you ever felt any similar emotions? Describe what it felt like (for example, your character is furious -- you remember a time when you felt angry -- you were sweating, your fists clenched, you couldn't speak in sentences). Actors use a technique called "emotional memory" where they try to remember a time they felt a similar emotion to the one their character is feeling -- that helps them play their scene truthfully.
Senior Drama:
Actors: Which character have you been assigned to play? Describe the character. Give them a back story. What challenges will you face in playing the character? Why do you think the directors chose you to play that character?
Theatre production:
Choose one scene from the play. How do you think it should be played (describe in detail)? How will light and sound help the audience respond to the play? What are your lighting and sound ideas for this scene?
Directors: Choose one of the characters -- why did you assign the actor you chose to that role?
Was it easy to agree on who played which character? How did you settle disagreements?
What is the biggest challenge for you with this play now? It is rather static at this point. How will you "jazz it up"?
Grade 8's: We are starting work on the Ugandan myth called "The Creation of the World". How do you think the world was created? Could you make a play out of your ideas? Explain how. Where, in the story, is a good place for a tableau? A mime? A choral speech? Which part would you like to play? Explain why.
Grade 9/10: Which heritage story so far is your favourite? Explain why. What genre do you like best? Give an example of the type of drama you like and explain how it fits into your choice of genre.
Senior Drama:
Many of you have said you would like to write a scene for the trial play. Choose one of the scenarios below and write a scene for it (one page or so). (You can research the actual story if you like.)
a) Bridget Sullivan (the maid) testifies about when Lizzie told her that Andrew Borden was dead;
b) Lizzie and Emma discuss the trial in Lizzie's cell in the jail;
c) the neighbour tells a police officer about Lizzie's relationship with Abby;
d) a little boy in the neighbourhood tells about finding a bloody ax in his backyard;
e) the defence attorneys discuss strategies to get Lizzie out of trouble.
Well, it didn't help me much -- I have been sick all week and today I just collapsed! I woke up and felt achy all over and my cough was really bad, so I stayed in bed the entire day and slept and I feel better today, although I still have the cough. I hope on the weekend, I'll spend two days of solid sleep and relaxation and that I'll be 100% on Monday. I hope you all had a great day today.
Grade 8's -- I want to see your fairy tale mimes AT LAST. Your journal is about them.
How did your fairy tale mime performance go? What went well? What needed improvement? Did anyone act as a leader for the group? Did anyone hinder the progress of the group? What did you do to help?
Which performance was your favourite? Explain why.
Grade 9/10's -- Write your heritage story. Include details, like where it takes place and when. Use the people's names.
Senior Drama -- What are your thoughts about the interactive Hallowe'en performance? What do you think of my idea about a murder trial? We will need actors, writers, lighting and sound technicians, costumes, hair and makeup, a set. Which job is suitable for you to do?
Actors -- there will be large and small roles -- the defence and prosecuting attorneys, the accused, witnesses -- those are large roles; smaller roles would be the judge, the bailiff, the court stenographer, reporters. What sort of role would you like?
Theatre production -- make a sketch of a costume you think would be suitable for one of the characters -- say who the character is and why you choose the outfit you do. Make sure to include colour! Make a sketch of what you think the set should look like. Include colour!
Directed studies -- your course is really open to what you want to study. Let's have each of you write a brief scene (1 - 2 pages) of a courtroom drama you think could have some scary potential.
On Monday, we will observe Orange Day at SLSS. It is a day to show our solidarity with aboriginal people and acknowledge what happened to them as a result of residential schools. Can you imagine what it would be like to have government officials come and take you away from your family and place you in a school where you were not allowed to speak your language or see your parents? If you want to learn more, try reading Richard Wagamese's book - Indian Horse.
Wear something orange on Monday to show that you believe that every child is important and that we have learned that children must be supported, defended and respected.
Today is the climate strike. It is a time for all of us to think about how lucky we are to live on this beautiful blue (and green) planet and how wondrous it is to see birds and trees and oceans and the blue sky and how precious it all is. Nature is a powerful force but our thoughtless actions are changing the natural course of the planet's weather, the climate and the environment on land, at sea and in the air. Thanks to activists like Greta Thunberg, many of us are waking up to the dire consequences of the climate emergency and it does seem like we are finally thinking of what we can do to stop ourselves from consuming all the resources of the planet and despoiling the wild places and taking better care of the plants and animals that share the earth with us.
We are all responsible for taking care of our world and treating the land and the living things with respect.
Grade 9 - 12: You are working on public service announcements related to this topic. What is your theme? How are you approaching it? What techniques are you using to convince your audience of your point of view?
Are you worried about climate change? Explain your answer.
Grade 9's and 10's -- remember that you need a heritage story for Monday!
Grade 8's: Are you good at working with a group? Rate yourself from one to five with five being great and one being not good at all. What is one thing about group work that you are successful with? What is one way you can improve? Would you say you are a good leader? Could you explain your answer? Write about an experience you had with group work and what you learned from it.
Here are the D Block grade 8's on our climate march this afternoon. The quote says, "never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." As you know, Margaret Mead said that! Good work, guys!
That is something Greta Thunberg said. She is a young woman (around your age!) from Sweden who has done so much to create awareness and a badly needed sense of urgency about the climate emergency. Next Friday, there will be worldwide day of action for people to demonstrate their concern about the climate emergency and to stand up for our home here on Planet Earth. There is a lot of scary information out there, but there are some reasons to hope that we will be able to turn things around and protect our home if only we act now.
I tried to copy the banner from the Guardian which shows the last two hundred years on a graph and is a shocking visual of how quickly and how much the world is warming. We need to take drastic action now to ward off the tipping point. What can you do? Our fine and performing arts departments want to make "care and respect for the planet" the theme for this school year. If you can come up with some ideas about tangible things we can do, share them with us! Just worrying about it is not a solution.
If you are interested in attending the rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery on September 27, let Ms. Descary know. She is taking students from SLSS on a field trip to the rally to show that we care and want to contribute to the solution and not make things worse.
On a more prosaic note (maybe, or maybe it's a less scary note . . .) we finished auditions for "As You Like It" on Friday. Thank you to everyone for taking part. It is always hard to decide on a cast. Of course, your audition is part of it. If you do a dynamite job, you will get a bigger part. If you didn't memorize it, that might mean you won't get a big part, because we want to make sure the people who are most serious and dedicated get the giant roles. If you are in grade 8 or 9, you need to realize that you must make the most of the part you get. "There is no such thing as a small part, just small actors!" If you come to all the rehearsals, you might find yourself promoted! Sometimes people drop out or can't manage rehearsals, and if you're there, you might be "johnny on the spot".
In Drama 8, remember that you will be reciting on Monday. Practice out loud. That is the best way to memorize something. We will work on the incidental music tableaus on Monday.
In Drama 9/10, make sure you ask your families about stories from your family's life. Marriages, wars, new or unusual jobs, holidays, babies, immigration to Canada -- all of these are possible sources for good stories. Think of the kinds of stories we tell in the circle!
In Senior Drama, we will definitely see your scary plays on Monday. Be ready. If you haven't discussed costumes, think of what your character should wear. Colour can communicate a lot.
Have a great weekend. I hope all you sleep deprived kids were able to grab a few extra moments of rest today.
Grade 8's: What should I know about you? You might want to include where you went to school before, if you did drama there, if you have ever done drama before, what you expect to get out of this class. It's important for you to let me know if you have stage fright, if you have ever performed in public (even if it is as an athlete or a musician or a dancer). Please share anything that you think will help me teach you and understand you better!
Grade 9/10's: Write about an adventure you had this summer. Make it sound dramatic. It should reflect the plot line we learned about in Grade 8. At the beginning, introduce the characters and setting, have an inciting incident and rising action and then an exciting climax! This might become a family story that you can share with your children and grandchildren.
Senior Drama: This is a combined course with Directing/Script Development, Directed Studies, Theatre Production, and Theatre Performance. What do you expect to get out of the course you have chosen? Think of an artist or a theatre professional you admire who does the work that you hope to study. What do you like about their work?
Well, we are down to a long weekend before we return to our duties at Steveston-London! I enjoy school (evidenced by the fact that I have been in school most of my life!) but I always would like two more weeks of vacation. It is the glory of "unstructured time" -- you rule yourself completely and don't have to be anywhere at a certain time or do anything by a certain date. I read an article in the Guardian newspaper about this British person going to South America to work and how the attitude to time is very different in South America. Punctuality is not such a big deal. If they get busy with something and have to finish it or whatever, they might be late for the next appointment but it isn't a big deal. I know we have been told that if you are chronically late, it shows contempt for the person you're meeting or the task in which you should be engaged, but I don't think that's necessarily true. I think students who come late to class in the morning are sometimes dealing with sleep deprivation (sound like you?) I know that science says that kids your age are dealing with that shift in their circadian rhythms (your natural sleep-awake cycle that revolves around a 24 hour period), and that you literally can't go to sleep at 10 and can't wake up at 7. Of course, my circadian rhythm is that I wake up at about 5:30 a.m. (ruled by Daisy, of course) and then am completely bagged by 9 p.m.
Anyhow, I have had a busy month, with my sister and brother-in-law here for the last two weeks. We were very busy and that was great, but it did make the time fly by. We saw "Coriolanus" at Bard on the Beach and I thought it was very well done. They had a woman play Coriolanus (called Gaius Marcius) (Moya O'Connell) and she was very powerful and other cast members stood out as well: Praneet Akilla (Brutus), Craig Erickson (Sicinius), Colleen Wheeler (Volumnia) and Sara Vickruck (Lieutenant for the Volsces, who sang and played the guitar as well -- very well!) It was very physical and the set (a series of projections on moveable panels) worked really well and I liked the music and the mob characters (who are not listed in the cast, so I can't tell you who they were, but they were all terrific, especially one woman, who completely inhabited her small but important role). It is a pretty bleak story, but one that is relevant for the times.
Anyway, try to enjoy these last few days of freedom before Tuesday. The weather is iffy, but don't let that stop you. I went to the beach yesterday in the rain and it was really nice! People were there anyway, barbecuing and paddle-boarding but it was quiet and the little birds were out and I took some deep breaths and told myself that I am a very lucky woman and I believed it, too!
This is the last day for the historical vignettes in Steveston. If you haven't seen them, you have two shows left! They run at 1 and 3 this afternoon. I will be at the one at 3. They depart from the museum on Moncton Street and the show takes an hour and the actors are great and the material is really interesting.
I know I've been remiss in posting to my blog this month, but I've been super busy with my yearly trip to Penticton and now my sister and brother-in-law are visiting from Toronto!
Last night, I saw Promethean Theatre's production of "Of Mice and Men" starring one of our alumnus actors -- David Volpov -- as "Whit". It was a terrific show and I recommend it enthusiastically. The story and play, written by John Steinbeck, are rightfully classics and the cast and crew do justice to Lennie and George's friendship and the struggles they face, the hopes that sustain them, the world in which they find themselves and the shocking ending of the story. The cast includes an actor with disabilities playing Lennie and having a diverse cast made the play really resonate. It felt completely authentic and I was moved by the individual performances of the whole cast. (I would really like to read the script -- the novel was adapted for the stage by John Steinbeck himself and he made certain important changes to the story after listening to the comments of his friends after they read the book. I think that says a lot about John Steinbeck, who is an extraordinary writer.) It had funny, tender and hopeful moments and I was really impressed with how the actors lived in their roles.
Anyway, if you want to see an amazing show, you still have a small window of opportunity. It is running at the Stage Door Theatre at 3102 Main Street at 8 p.m. each night until August 24.
(How do I get rid of this bump off to the left? I tried to post Promethean Theatre's poster for the play, but this is what I got!)
I read a column by Maureen Dowd in the New York Times yesterday that tried to equate this movie to the idea of nostalgia for the days of white male privilege. Although I agree that white privilege was and is a thing, I do not think this movie explores that idea. She makes reference to an article in the Los Angeles Times by Mary McNamera that asks this question -- "Who doesn’t miss the good old days when cars had fins and white men were the heroes of everything?" But is that what the movie is doing? Obviously, I don't see it that way. Cliff Booth, Brad Pitt's character, seems to me to exemplify not the white male power structure, but rather a nice guy who has finished last. He doesn't really have any talent, like his friend, Rick, and has gotten into trouble in the past (we don't really find out a lot about this, but we know that he has problems getting work), lives in a filthy trailer and eats Kraft dinner, and basically survives by driving Rick around and fixing the antenna on his house and stuff like that. She says that his performance invokes iconic "male" performances from the past like Rick in "Casablanca" or Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry -- well, firstly, how one could connect those two characters is beyond me, and how you could say that Cliff is like either of them, is also beyond me. Rick is not the iconic man of the sixties either. He isn't the tough cowboy he plays on tv -- he is full of angst and eagerness to please and cries at the drop of a hat -- is he a hero? Not in the way Mary McNamera describes. I get that Quentin Tarantino is nostalgic for old Hollywood -- apparently, he expended a lot of effort in getting the scenes to look authentic but to try to connect it to Donald Trump or the Trumpian idea of "white men as heroes" is a real stretch. She says we need to leave the world of the past behind, and certainly I agree with her, but I don't think this movie is urging us to return to those 1960 Hollywood days. I think it is a personal story of Quentin Tarantino's love of Hollywood through the lens of actors who are never what they seem (and the struggle and joy of being an actor). I'm not a huge fan of QT but I don't think this description of the movie catches its charm, which it has in abundance. Last night, I watched the movie "Red River" with John Wayne (now there's a Hollywood hero/cowboy without a doubt) and Montgomery Clift (another iconic Hollywood actor, but the complete and utter opposite of John Wayne). It is a classic western in every sense of the word, in the sense of the good and the bad that that genre entails but what puts it over into greatness is Montgomery Clift himself. He is really extraordinary. If you've never seen him in a movie, you should seek him out. He was always good but besides "Red River", "From Here to Eternity" is terrific (and has the eternally magnificent Burt Lancaster in it as well as an amazing performance by Frank Sinatra and great supporting performances by Donna Reed and Ernest Borgnine) and "A Place in the Sun" (with Elizabeth Taylor and Shelley Winters {who is always terrific}) and a beautiful, tragic supporting performance in "Judgement at Nuremberg" (again with the extraordinary Burt Lancaster). I'll write about Burt Lancaster another time -- he's one of my favourites.
I saw this movie this afternoon. It is Quentin Tartantino's homage to the Hollywood dream machine (well, he often bows his head to movies, but this is a complete homage, I think.) The performances were terrific, especially Leonardo DiCaprio (who I don't always think of as a great actor, but who really is one). He was funny and fragile and hopeful and tough and vulnerable and did I say FUNNY (which is the hardest thing of all) and I really think he hit the ball out of the park. The script was quite good and hit all these great marks with Hollywood and acting and friendship and loyalty and fear and getting older. I think it caught the time period really well and built up the suspense. Of course, it being a Quentin Tarantino movie means that it was very violent and I was dreading that, and it was very very violent, but most of the movie focused on other things that I find much more interesting.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie play two different ends of the Hollywood world. He is an aging tv star who doubts himself and needs reassurance and even when he gets it, wonders if he has what it takes. She is just at the beginning of her career and it is fun to watch her go into a movie theatre to see herself on screen and how she reacts to the audience members' reactions to her performance. She's excited to just be there and is kind of amazed and in love with herself as an actor and as a character in the movies. Leonardo DiCaprio has so many great scenes -- when he forgets his lines and then castigates himself for it when he's by himself and then later when he does well in a scene, you see the relief and the pride and the fear -- what if it never happens again? How hard it is to put yourself out there and what if you fail? You are rooting for him, but at the same time, he's very silly and egotistical and FUNNY. I am so impressed with him.
Brad Pitt is very good looking, of course, and he was good in the thankless role of the regular guy, the sidekick to the famous actor. Of course, he isn't just a regular guy because he has a mysterious past and is kind and resourceful and strong, in a complete contrast to Leonardo DiCaprio. Julia Butters is good in the small role of a child actor in a tv show in which Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) plays a villain and Mike Moh is great as Bruce Lee. Apparently, Bruce Lee's family doesn't like the part, but I think it's funny and I don't think you're supposed to think "Oh, Bruce Lee was actually like this". I just thought it was an interesting and funny take on his image -- it shows him in a dispute with Cliff Booth (Pitt) and then shows him teaching Sharon Tate (Robbie) some moves.
Anyway, I recommend the movie highly. I'm not a big fan of violence, but most of the movie is about actors and how you make a movie and Hollywood and so the violence isn't a deal breaker. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance is worth the price of admission and there's other great stuff as well.
This is Odin, a young dog from California. He is a great hero. This is his story. His job on the farm was to look after a herd of eight goats. Last year, during the horrible wild fires, the fire took a sudden turn and threatened Odin's farm. The farmer didn't have time to get the goats in his trailer, but he hoped he'd be able to save his dogs, cats and daughter in the car. He tried to get Odin into the car, but Odin wouldn't leave the goats behind. The farmer said the dog just sat down with the goats and he could see that Odin wouldn't budge, so he had to leave. As he drove away, he said the cars behind him had flames shooting out of their windows. That's how close the fire was.
Days later, the farmer returned to the farm. Every building had been destroyed, but Odin was still there and had saved all the goats! There was even a small herd of deer with him -- perhaps they trusted that Odin would take care of them as well. Poor Odin was limping and exhausted, his paw pads had been burned and his fur was orange from the heat of the flames, but he had done his duty and saved the lives he had been entrusted with. Look at his sweet, dear face. He doesn't expect glory, he just wants love.
I read about Odin when reading a story on the CBC about a dog, Chaser, who knew over 1,000 words. He just recently died after a long and happy life. His owner, John Pilley, was interested in animal intelligence and decided to see how many words a dog could learn. Chaser was taught by using toys. Pilley would ask him to find a certain toy and if Chaser brought that toy, then Pilley knew that Chaser had learned the name of the toy. It took a long time and the people had to write down the names, because they couldn't remember them all, but Chaser learned them! As I have learned over and over -- we know nothing about what goes on in an animal's mind. Any animal, even a bee, is a mystery to us.
As for dogs, what have we done as humans that makes us deserve the love and loyalty of such wonderful creatures? My own girl, Daisy, is very timid and nervous and would probably have been the first to jump in the car and abandon the goats and she's deaf, so we don't know if she understands any words any more, but when you look into her eyes, you know that she is a sweet, deep mystery and I am so glad we found her and gave her a home. Her life before she came to us was very difficult. (I've told her story before in this blog.) When she first arrived, she was very frightened and hid in the basement and tried to run away whenever it was 5 o'clock in the evening and ripped her dog crate to pieces on Hallowe'en (we thought it would help her feel safe -- we didn't keep her in it at any other time) and wedged herself between the washing machine and the wall once when there was a storm and was just generally terrified. She had been returned to the SPCA twice and when we said we would take her, the SPCA lady said we had to be sure because she couldn't be returned again (I don't know what that meant, but obviously, if a dog is returned three times, she's probably not adoptable). We said we were dog people and had had lots of dogs and would not bring her back. And we didn't. We learned that Daisy needed lots of walking to work through her anxiety and we accepted that she is not a touchy-feely kind of dog -- she will submit to patting, but never seeks it out. She learned that she can trust us and that she doesn't ever need to be afraid that we won't love her and treat her kindly. And in our darkest days, she has been there to watch over us and comfort us. We have done a good job looking out for each other.
Thanks to Odin and Chaser and Daisy and all the other dear dogs out there who do their best every day!
My sister-in-law and I have started a tradition (three years running) of going to Theatre Under The Stars in Stanley Park to see a musical every summer. Now, many of you know I am not particularly fond of musicals, but I leave the theatre with a big grin on my face after these TUTS shows. It is a perfect piece of summer time froth and I thoroughly enjoy this little dose of musical theatre once a year. This year, we saw "Newsies" which has the possibility of being a bit more than just froth, because although it is a musical, it is about downtrodden workers trying to organize a union to fight the rich fatcats who get to call all the shots and exploit them and don't treat them fairly. The basic premise is that there are these kids who sell newspapers ("papes") in the streets of New York and the newspaper owners pay them a pittance which suffices to feed them meagrely but forces them to sleep on fire escapes and wear rags and, if they get hurt or sick, to worry about whether they can afford to take care of themselves (gee, something like what many people face in our enlightened age!) When the newspaper bosses decide to raise the cost of the papers, the "newsies" decide to organize a union. As a proud union member myself, I am always gratified to see people take their working lives into their own hands and banding together to demand respect in their workplaces.
This show takes on that task and a lot of the songs are about standing together and seizing the day (not "the means of production", that might be a bit radical for a musical that was originally a Disney movie!) but it blinks at the end and gives us too pat an answer for such a complicated situation. Nevertheless, the show was very entertaining, the songs uplifting, some of the actors outstanding and the dancing was out of this world. The dancing is always what gets me. I like the singing and the actors always have a lot of energy, but the dancing is what puts that huge smile on my face. The dances in this show were especially amazing with tumbling and tapping and show dancing and the chorus line was magnificent. The lead guy was great (Adam Charles) and a couple of the newsies (a tough Asian kid who smoked all the time and an Italian looking kid with his hat turned backwards -- it's hard to figure out which actor they are) were really amazing. A couple of the performers seemed to have slight problems with their big songs (Julia Ullrich as Katherine kept having those clogged voice problems, but she soldiered through her big number and was at least 80% successful) but the show was great -- the set looked terrific and the choreography was great in design and execution -- a great evening at the theatre.
The other show, running on alternate nights from "Newsies" is "Mamma Mia" and I'm sure, if you like ABBA, it would be great, too. (I don't.) The shows are very popular, so if you want to go, make sure you book ahead.
Today, my son and Mr. Evans (a retired SLSS teacher) and I took in the walking tours sponsored by the Steveston Historical Society, which features performances by our talented Steveston-London actors. The shows run on Saturdays throughout the summer -- at 1 and 3 in the afternoon (two shows a Saturday!). Tickets are only $12. The show begins at the museum and then you are led to the Cannery, onto the boardwalk, to a little field by the Prickly Pear nursery and then finally to the Interurban in the park. It takes about an hour. It is lots of fun and the performances are terrific, of course. If you are interested, you can buy tickets here:
I've been reading this play and mulling over it because I have decided to do it for our first show in the fall of the next school year. It is funny and fun and Mr. Price has all sorts of interesting ideas about the set (of course) and last year, when Bard on the Beach did it, they used Beatles songs as a kind of theme (I didn't see it because, when I was reading about the production, someone involved said something that rubbed me the wrong way -- about how the Beatles lyrics were more accessible or something, something that implied that the Beatles improved the play and although the person probably didn't mean what I took it to mean, I didn't like it and that put me off seeing the production. The reviewer was also excited that there was a wrestling match in the beginning and seemed to think that Bard on the Beach had thought of that, but of course, the wrestling is all Shakespeare).
Some of you might remember when we did Midsummer Night's Dream several years ago and we had the opening of the play in the lounge. Although the kids were very unhappy about that idea, it worked extraordinarily well, and we are thinking of doing that again. The beginning of the play is in the city and it is a corrupt place and I think it would be good to have it very noisy (like traffic going all the time) and garbage strewn and dirty feeling. Then, once the principals leave the city and head to the forest of Arden, the audience will follow them into the theatre and the rest of the play will take place there. The theatre will be all lush and Emily Carr and the sound will be birds and running water. Doesn't that sound good?
The character of Duke Frederick is Trumpian to me. I am thinking of having him wear a very blond wig. He is impulsive and malign and does things without considering the consequences. He has perpetrated some sort of coup which has sent the rightful duke into banishment in the forest. The play has quite a theatrical side to it (well, of course, but I mean overtly) with the opening wrestling match, which I would like to do very WWE-style and lots of music and Touchstone, who I would like to see kind of Rodney Dangerfield (does anyone who isn't on "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" know who I'm talking about?) And of course, as is often the case with Shakespearean comedies, there is the gender bending of Rosalind pretending to be a boy, Ganymede. She chooses the name, Ganymede, which is the name of a beautiful youth who Zeus (in the form of an eagle) abducted and brought to Olympus to be his cupbearer, and then, when she encounters Orlando in the forest (they met briefly in the city and fell in love), she (in the guise of Ganymede) tells him to pretend that she is Rosalind and he can woo her for practice -- oh, yes, very confusing! There are other couples who are in love, too, and it's just great fun and I know we'll have a ball putting it together.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was reading this book. I finished it yesterday. I said it wasn't as amazing as The Country of Ice Cream Star, but I did really enjoy it and thought lots of it was terrific. There were moments while reading that I was completely shocked and surprised (and my mouth dropped wide open) and I really cared about the characters and it made me think about what you would do to survive, if everything came crashing down around you. For example, I have an earthquake bag in our basement, and they tell us you should have at least three days worth of stuff to tide you over until things get back to normal. But what if things never got back to normal? Where would you get water? (We have creeks on either side of the building, but I'm not sure if the water is good to drink. Obviously, we'd have to see. Daisy can drink it, but I don't think that's a good test, because dogs can drink out of puddles on the street.) What about food? In both Station Eleven and Ice Cream Star the people have to hunt. We see lots of birds, but they are very fast and very wary of us. How would you kill one? We have no weapons and don't know how to use them if we did have them. And I have a few edible things growing in the yard, but not enough to feed us for long. The yard is very shady and so most vegetables don't do well. How would you defend yourself? If stronger people came with weapons and told us they were taking the house, we couldn't do anything to stop them.
The author of this book chose to set most of the story years after the initial pandemic that kills most of the people. She said she did this because she was not as interested in the initial mayhem that would ensue, but more in what people would do to try to rebuild society. The Travelling Symphony has decided to move from community to community and put on concerts and plays, because "survival is insufficient". This is a quote from "Star Trek: Voyager" (one of my husband's favourite shows) and the main character in the book, Kirsten, says it's her favourite quote of all time and she has it tattooed on her arm (I read a review that said this was an odd "favourite" for her to have when she has all of Shakespeare, but I don't think I agree. This quote is from something that she loved that is gone forever and it is the raison d'etre for her and her companions). They perform Shakespeare and Beethoven because people would want the best from the world that has been, for the most part, destroyed. In another place, a man has created a museum of civilization in which he preserves things from the old world -- cell phones and credit cards and pieces of identification. Someone else starts a newspaper and looks after a library. What would you treasure most if disaster struck?
This is a quote from The Guardian, a British newspaper to which I have a subscription. I like it because it gets me away from news solely focused on Donald Trump, with whom I admit I am a bit obsessed (in a very negative way). I like the quote because it refers to a favourite quote of mine from The Great Gatsby, which everyone should read and then reread a few years later. (There are so many great things to read and I am afraid I waste a lot of time reading mystery novels instead of stuff that's more worthwhile.)
Britain has just chosen a new prime minister, after Theresa May resigned last month. They are trying to deal with Brexit and can't seem to make any progress either to leave the European Union or to have another election or another referendum to see if they should remain a member. Boris Johnson is their "sort of" choice for prime minister (they didn't have an actual election, because Theresa May resigned without calling one and so the party chooses a new leader and because the party {in this case, the conservatives} is in power, the leader they choose is also the Prime Minister). Boris Johnson has said that Britain will leave the European Union on October 31 (a rather inauspicious date) with or without a deal. But of course, it's like a marriage and not so easy just to part ways without getting lawyers involved and organizing how you're going to share the wealth and who will take care of the children and things like that. I don't know how most British people feel but certainly the Guardian (which has leftist leanings) is not optimistic about how Boris will manage things. He has a very colourful past -- he was originally a journalist, but was embroiled in scandal for making up a quote and then attributing the quote to his godfather (he is very well connected and his godfather is a well known historian named Colin Lucas) and then was elected mayor of London (for two terms) and then entered national politics, serving in the Conservative cabinet and then resigning in protest against Theresa May's inability to get Brexit done. He has very blond hair, and it is interesting to me that it is reminiscent of Donald Trump's hair -- neither coif appears to me to be very attractive. Anyway, as you can see by the quote, Hannah Jane Parkinson (the writer of the article which is topped off by this great quotation) is not hopeful.
Here in my safe corner of the world, I am sitting looking out at my view of the North Shore and watching the birds and squirrels eat the seeds and nuts I have put out for them. The squirrels are so funny -- the way they leap from the balcony to the tree next to the house - they throw themselves into the void with their little feet curled up under them and then grab onto a branch and nimbly run into the leaves and disappear, only to return shortly for more nuts. Daisy and I saw a lovely pileated woodpecker on our walk this morning. I am reading another dystopian novel (recommended by my sister) called Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. It's not as amazing as Ice Cream Star but it certainly makes you appreciate the infrastructure that we depend on -- electricity and running water and transit systems and grocery stores - which do not exist for the people in the Symphony (which is a group of travelling musicians and actors, who have survived the pandemic that has decimated the world in this book). Last night, after aquafit, I had a delicious double chocolate raspberry ice cream cone and I don't suppose the people in Station Eleven would ever get to eat such a wonderful confection with no way to refrigerate anything. Be grateful for the wonders that we have at our fingertips.
So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
That's the headline on the Guardian Weekly cover and the "machine" is a tree. The Guardian article (written by Damien Carrington) says that "planting billions of trees across the world is by far the biggest and cheapest way to tackle the climate crisis". It goes on to say that a worldwide tree planting program "could remove two thirds of all the emissions that have been pumped into the atmosphere by human activities".
It is a rather hopeful prospect and seems simple, but of course, nothing is simple in reality, I guess. In the same edition, it tells about the terrifying destruction of the Brazilian rainforest and that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has said that the Amazon is "ours" (meaning it belongs to Brazil and the rest of the world should butt out) and that they can do what they like with it. Here, at home, we have logged much of our old growth forests and we continue to debate the question of the environment vs. jobs as if you can't have one without the other.
But, when we all feel so helpless in the face of the climate emergency, it is good to know that there are things we can do ourselves, and planting a tree is always a hopeful exercise. I have been doing a lot of work in the yard this month, and it is an amazing place. We live right on the edge of the forest and if I don't get out there for a while, the forest starts moving in pretty quickly. It sends out the blackberry bushes and ferns first and then follows with sprouts of a tree that I can't identify -- it has jagged edged leaves and produces a nut in a green casing that the squirrels love. We have a large bush of this tree at the edge of the yard. Anyway, I have a bag of play sand by our little fire bowl (which we don't use anymore because we are afraid of starting a fire that will spread and burn down all of Port Moody). We used it to smother the fires in years gone by. A brave shoot of whatever that bush is has grown up in the play sand. I have decided to give the little guy a better chance and plant him in the soil by the other bush. I hope that he flourishes and that each of us can figure out a way to plant a few trees. If you don't have a yard, you can always give a donation to organizations like TreeCanada that plant trees or the Ancient Forest Alliance that tries to protect trees that are doing their work to save the planet right now! Go out and hug a tree today! You'll feel better, I promise you.
Daisy let me sleep in a little this morning. She is getting quite old and creaky and likes to lie on the day bed in my room as long as she can before she answers "the call of nature". Usually she is anxious to get up at about 5:30 a.m. and keeps jumping off the bed onto the floor and clicking across the room, down the stairs, clicking on the kitchen floor, then up the stairs to stare at me lying there with my eyes closed, pretending to be asleep, hoping she'll buy it and get back onto her bed as well. Sometimes it works.
This morning we slept in until about 7! Once we get up, we have to get going for our walk before anything else happens. Daisy can't just "do her business" in the backyard. She has to have a walk. (It sounds a bit like I'm her slave . . . maybe.) I'm just as glad once we get going. It's cool in the morning and the birds are singing and the air feels fresh.
Off we go. Soon after we started, we could hear a murder of crows making quite a kerfuffle a couple of blocks from our house, so we headed that way to see what was up. I am always a bit worried, because I don't want any animals to be hurt and the crows were sounding pretty worked up. Crow babies live on the ground for several days before they can learn to fly well, and of course, they're very vulnerable when they're not able to fly to get away from predators. Their parents do their best (if you've ever been dive-bombed by a crow, you know what I'm talking about) but there is a limit to what they can do.
Anyhow, we got to the spot and saw a lot of crows on the wires around a little house which appears to be awaiting demolition (Port Moody is busy transforming itself these days). We looked over the fence and saw a mother raccoon and two baby raccoons (kits) in the yard. I was afraid that we would see a struggling baby crow (chick), but we didn't -- the raccoons had some sort of plastic tray of pastries that someone had thrown out and they were feasting on it, so I guess the crows were cheesed because they wanted the pastries for themselves. The mother raccoon seemed to feel like they had eaten all the pastry they needed and she wanted to go so she scaled the fence and walked along the top of it to leave, but the babies couldn't reach high enough on the fence to be able to hoist themselves up. They tried but couldn't manage it. Finally the mom came back and they disappeared into the berry bushes at the edge of the yard. By that time, the crows had calmed down. The pastry package was left behind, so maybe the crows can get a few crumbs now.
I have been watching this show as an antidote to the news which I find very disturbing. I can't just ignore it completely, so I'm going to say that my family experienced hearing the phrase "go back where you came from" many times. My dad was Ukrainian-Canadian and he was a bit of a radical politically and many people said to him that if he didn't like Canada, he should "go back where he came from" (which would have been Tiny, Saskatchewan, where he was born, and not Ukraine). Just because my dad thought and said that Canada could be a better country (can't we all get better? isn't that the point of having a democracy, in which we can suggest ways we can improve and help each other and figure out the solutions to problems, collectively, instead of just struggling on our own to survive?) didn't mean he didn't love Canada. He fought in the Canadian army in World War II. He worked hard all his life and paid his taxes and stood up for his beliefs and he and my mom raised my sister and me and taught us to be kind and honest and work hard and respect the law and be good citizens who think about how things are done and try to make things better. I am proud of how Canada is a nation of diverse people who try to get along and who believe that we should take care of each other, but obviously, we send people to parliament to discuss how things are going and try to come up with ways to make things better. If they all just sat there and said how great everything was, nothing would get done. If anyone ever says, "go back where you came from", don't let that hurt you. That person doesn't know what they're talking about. We need people to come here from other places. That's what makes Canada a great place to live.
Anyhow, after that tirade, which has nothing to do with "Comedians in Cars", I will say that I have watched a number of these shows and they do what television is good at, which is give you something that is entertaining to watch when you feel tired or just want something easy to stare at while you recuperate from Aquafit. Someone said that the show isn't funny, and it isn't always, because I don't think that's what it's trying to do. I think it's more like a rather low key talk show, and Jerry just lets the person be themselves in a kind of hyper-themselves sort of way. The best guest I've seen so far is Alec Baldwin. I don't think of him as a "comedian" ( I don't think Jerry cares that much about their credentials) but he is an excellent actor and he is entertaining and tells good stories and makes the twenty minutes of the show just fly by. He told this great story about Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas and he did both of their voices and even kind of looked like them when he told their part of the story. He also told a story about a play he was in (I think it was "Entertaining Mr. Sloane", by Joe Orton) and he did his own lines and the other people's and it was terrific. A bit of escapist fluff in a scary time.
