World Theatre Day

Hats off to Mansel Robinson, the playwright who's serving as the wonderful writer in residence at our local library. He assembled a terrific event to celebrate World Theatre Day. After reading greetings from Robert LePage, we heard performances from Mansel, Pam Bustin, and Mark Leiren-Young.



That's Pam reading from her one-woman show about Georgia O'Keeffe.

Before this event, I'd never even heard of World Theatre Day. Truly, something to celebrate.

No more washing dishes in the tub

Hurrah!

It feels like supreme luxury to have water in a sink in the kitchen. One of the joys of getting closer to the end of a kitchen renovation.

Although I've not enjoyed kneeling beside the bathtub to wash the dishes, I realize I'm lucky to have had a choice -- when one sink wasn't available, to have been able to go to another. The bathtub method wasn't fun, but it sure sounds a lot easier than doing the washing-up in the rocks down by the river. It's easy to forget that some people don't have even the luxury of a river with rocks -- or for that matter, the luxury of water at all.

Hornby Island, and it's spring

What a great place to have spent the Vernal Equinox. Everything is alive with green. Grape hyacinth, bluebells, and even wild daffodils are scattered throughout the forest in the most surprising spots.

Looking out onto the field, I'm lucky enough to get a click at the perfect baby lamb, newly arrived to greet the season.

A weird question about movies

Yesterday, after a day of more kitchen reno-ing, we watched an odd little Renee Zellweger film, A Price Above Rubies. Supposedly set in NY (I suspect it was actually shot in Montreal or Toronto, as it's credited as a Canadian production), I couldn't help notice the skyline.

Whenever I see the NY skyline, I can't help scan for those ridiculously tall twin towers. When they aren't there (as in this film), I wonder about them. Paranoid as I guess I must be, I sometimes consider whether there's been editing done to ensure they don't appear, reminding us of what used to stand there.

I think I'd like to start collecting films with skyline shots, to see what they show. Strange quest of the week, no doubt, but still, I'd like to know. Besides, it sounds like a great excuse to give Manhattan another chance.

Can it be true? Hurrah!

Latimer released from prison!

O say can you whaaat?!

So the budget for security for Vancouver's Olympic extravaganza in 2010 has finally come out. Just about a billion -- at least so far.

And guess who they're hiring as the big guns. Army from the U.S. of A.

Does Gordon Campbell know something about the border that we haven't heard about yet?

Wow, what a birthday!

If my gramma were still alive, she'd be ancient. Either 108 or 109. We're pretty sure she lied about her age -- that she said she'd been born in 1900 because 1899 sounded too old.

The youngest of 13 kids, she was raised on a farm, but went on to make a life for herself in the city. She got herself through business school and became (if I have my story right) assistant to the city's top cop.

She raised four kids pretty much on her own, no easy feat considering that this was during the Depression. She made wonderful molasses cookies, smoked cigarettes (which likely led to her early death), and loved playing cards. In fact, she's the one who taught me to play Canasta. That handful of 13 cards was quite the feat when I was five!

If you need an excuse to celebrate today, raise a glass in memory of one very cool woman, Mayme!

Bill C-10 and its dirty little secret

Here's a copy of a letter I just sent off to Senator W. David Angus, Chair of the Senate Committee on Bank, Trade and Commerce.
- -
March 3, 2008
Senator W. David Angus, Chair, Senate Committee on Bank, Trade and Commerce
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Angus,

I am writing regarding Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, and specifically section 119 (3) (b) of that Act, which would, in essence, impose a new form of censorship on Canadian creators of film and/or video productions.

Last week saw Canadians celebrating Freedom to Read Week. That fact seems more than a bit ironic in light of the quick action that’s been taken with the above amendment, which clearly threatens the artistic integrity of film and video directors.

The Senate is always portrayed as the place for sober second thought. I can only trust that this will indeed be the case in this instance, and that the Senate will defeat this bill and return it to the House of Commons.

Surely, the Members of the Senate recognize that freedom of expression is essential to the creation of meaningful art, and that the creation of meaningful art is essential to a vibrant culture.

Sincerely,


Heidi Greco
Writer and Editor
- -
To give you some background, I'm going to quote extensively from a letter sent out by the Executive Director of The Writers' Union of Canada.

She explains the Bill to members of TWUC like this:
"You may have heard about Bill C-10: An Act to amend the Income Tax Act, that was made public last week. This is an Income Tax Act with a twist. One small section of the 50-page Act, section 119 (3) (b), proposes changes to the Income Tax Act that are a peculiar new form of censorship."

“Canadian film or video production certificate” means a certificate issued in respect of a production by the Minister of Canadian Heritage certifying that the production is a Canadian film or video production in respect of which that Minister is satisfied that … (b) public financial support of the production would not be contrary to public policy.” [Bill C-10 section 119 (3) (b)]

"This bill received, on October 29, 2007, first, second and third reading in the House of Commons without debate. It is currently in the second reading stage in the Senate.

"The Writers’ Union of Canada is deeply concerned with conformity to public policy becoming a test for any kind of a tax benefit for artistic productions. The application of this principle to movies is unacceptable and establishes a precedent for similar future repression of book and magazine publishers."

- -
With luck, this link to a story in the Globe may even still work. Fingers crossed; they are often quick to charge.

I hope you will take a minute to write a note of your own to Senator Angus -- and, if you can, cc it to the rest of the Committee. I am enclosing Senator Angus' email address [anguswd@sen.parl.gc.ca], as well as addresses for the other Members of the Committee [goldsy@sen.parl.gc.ca; bironmi@sen.parl.gc.ca; rokosg@sen.parl.gc.ca; harbm@sen.parl.gc.ca; jaffem@sen.parl.gc.ca; massip@sen.parl.gc.ca; moorew@sen.parl.gc.ca; olived@sen.parl.gc.ca; ringup@sen.parl.gc.ca; tkachd@sen.parl.gc.ca]. For the record, those Members are: Senate Committee on Bank, Trade and Commerce.

Angus, W. David, Chair - C - (Alma - Quebec) anguswd@sen.parl.gc.ca
Goldstein, Yoine, Deputy Chair - Lib. - (Rigaud - Quebec) goldsy@sen.parl.gc.ca
Biron, Michel - Lib. - (Mille Isles - Quebec) bironmi@sen.parl.gc.ca
Eyton, John Trevor - C - (Ontario) rokosg@sen.parl.gc.ca
Harb, Mac - Lib. - (Ontario) harbm@sen.parl.gc.ca
Jaffer, Mobina S.B. - Lib. - (British Columbia) jaffem@sen.parl.gc.ca
Massicotte, Paul J. - Lib. - (De Lanaudière - Quebec) massip@sen.parl.gc.ca
Moore, Wilfred P. - Lib. - (Stanhope St. / South Shore - Nova Scotia) moorew@sen.parl.gc.ca
Oliver, Donald H. - C - (South Shore - Nova Scotia) olived@sen.parl.gc.ca
Ringuette, Pierrette - Lib. - (New Brunswick) ringup@sen.parl.gc.ca
Tkachuk, David - C - (Saskatchewan) tkachd@sen.parl.gc.ca

I did it!

I finished the marathon: two hours water running.



Thanks to everyone who pledged me, I came up with $180 in donations for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Yay!

With heartbeats to my sponsors:

Tom
George
Lisa
Antoinette
Janet
Arn
Lorraine
Ellen
Rosemary

Gracias!

Let's let pink be the new colour...

...for strong.

Banned Books

Not in Canada, you say? Wrong. Canadian writers from Atwood to Munsch have had their books challenged and pulled from library (and sometimes even bookstore) shelves.

In observation of Freedom to Read Week, many events will take place across the country. Two local ones are:

Wednesday, February 27th, 7 pm at the Bad Dog Bistro (33166 First Avenue, Mission). Come early and eat supper at the site of this annual event.

Saturday afternoon will see an event at the Semiahmoo branch of the Surrey Public Library. This will be held in the lounge on the main floor and starts at 2 pm.

Hoping to see you at one of these!

Kitchen renos, Hoser style

This is certainly turning into a bonding experience. We're moving a wall, rearranging cupboards, getting a different countertop. Yikes!
But yes, we're still speaking -- and even having a pretty good time of it all.

Touching wood, of course. Good thing there's a lot of that here!

It's Heart Month

There's a whole lot more to February than Valentine hearts. It's also Heart and Stroke Month.

To observe this, I plan to participate in a 2-hour marathon. It's not running anyplace in particular -- and not the traditional 26-miler. We'll be doing circles, running in the deep end of the South Surrey/White Rock Indoor Pool.

Feel like pledging some dough for me? Contact me by email or leave a comment so I can get back to you.

Should be fun!

Year of the Rat Tree?

Okay, so that isn't what this is, but I like thinking these fuzzy buds might burst into tiny rats to celebrate the new lunar year.

And if rats aren't your thing, how about calling it the year of the dandeLion? Whichever you choose, Gung Hei Fat Choi!

Last day of the Pig!

So, is this why I've been wanting to nibble all day? And if that's the case, will the Year of the Rat bring any change to my appetite?

Once again, it's Superb Owl time!

And once again, I'm not thinking NFL, but instead, a day to go to the movies.

What do groundhogs know?

If I were going to try to predict spring, I wouldn't look for my shadow. I prefer relying on the height of these daffs. They look to me like a pretty sure sign of a soon-to-come spring. At least I sure hope that's the case!

Too much charity begins at home

B.C. Poet Tim Lander has had his home declared an official 'nuisance' by the city of Nanaimo. Lander's been allowing the homeless to sleep on the floor of his house.

Obviously, there's more to the story than this. Still, this sounds like yet another case where our society's sense of values seem seriously out of whack. I guess this is what happens when one man tries to help address an impossibly huge problem.

And maybe I'm just feeling sensitive to this, as I still can't erase what I saw in my own driveway just the other morning: footprints in the snow around both of our cars, left by someone who appeared to have been looking for a place to sleep.

The Power of Language

The people behind Oback Barama have hired themselves some darn smart writers. The slogan they've created for their candidate is one heckuva powerful mantra. Talk about three loaded words.

YES -- Now there's a positive message if ever there was one. No more 'no' to anything as a rallying cry. He's giving the people the opportunity to say 'yes.'

WE -- What word better unifies the people? There's no second-person 'you' in his slogan; this is all about working together.

CAN -- The choice of verb is the simplest of the many words that mean enablement, that signify potential.

Three little words, eight little letters... I expect we're going to be hearing this slogan a lot: Yes, we can.

If you close your eyes and listen to him saying it, you might even think for a minute that you're hearing Martin Luther King. Do you suppose that could be something the handlers have been working on too?

Josh Brolin as George Bush?

And Dubya at that? He'll have to do it with gesture and word. The actor who was a ringer, right down to the pointy chin, went and died way too soon. Yep, Heath Ledger.