Well, we should have a week's worth of school in, but we are still walking the picket line. We went to a big rally at Canada Place yesterday and it was quite encouraging to see all the other unions there with their banners and their signs. There were lots of good speeches -- there is a real skill in making a speech that can rouse a crowd, like Marc Antony does in "Julius Caesar". Some politicians have it, like Tommy Douglas did. It isn't being loud, or overly dramatic. In a way, it's an intangible thing, but it does include a bit of humour and a bit of passion and a sense for where to stop and wait for people to clap. The head of the BC Federation of Labour, Jim Sinclair, has it. He was making quite a rousing speech and suddenly a young-ish woman came up to the mike on the stage and started babbling about something -- it sounded like a confused wedding proposal or something. Everyone in the crowd was thinking, "what is this? is this some performance piece or something?" Of course, I wondered if it was a metaphor! But some of the people on the stage helped the woman off, and then Jim Sinclair got back to it without a skipped beat. I hope with every fibre of my being that this thing can get settled next week. We all want to get back to our classrooms and I hope we can get back to normal, too. I don't want to go back to rotating strikes and that awful lockout, I want to go back to real school, and do all the things we normally do. I want to start rehearsals and worry about the show instead of not being gainfully employed!
Tomorrow, my creativity group and I are going to the Fringe Festival which has become a bit of a tradition for us. If you're looking for something to do, the Festival runs till September 14, with shows all over Granville Island, and extending to the Cultch (Vancouver East Cultural Centre). It can be hit and miss, because they don't vet the works -- you apply to present your play and it's first come first served, so some of them are vanity projects and some of them are not polished and all passion, but it's very inexpensive ($14 per show) and even bad shows can be entertaining if you come with the right attitude. We're going to see "Anatolia Speaks", "Deranged Dating" and "Eye Candy". You can get a Fringe program at community centres and coffee shops and can access it on line as well, so check it out. Since we're not in school, it's a good productive way to spend some of your time.
While we're waiting for school to start, don't just sit in your house and stare at your computer all day. Go to the library and get a book to read and find a project for yourself. I'm writing up a storm -- it's productive (I hope) and it gets my mind off my troubles. Keep the faith. Write to your MLA and ask when you're going to get back to school. And then let me know . . .
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