A Mari Usque Ad Mare

The Canadian national motto is "A Mari Usque Ad Mare." This means "from sea to sea." It derives from the Latin Vulgate translation of Psalm 72:8 in the Bible. It could apply also to the voyages of Captain Reid Stowe on his home-built schooner Anne, on a more worldly basis. This gaff-rigged schooner, built on the model of the 19th and early 20th century fishing schooners, is nearing its 40th anniversary of launching. The owner and overseer of the Anne, Reid Stowe, left the New York/New Jersey harbor with his partner, Soanya Ahmad, aboard the  Anne just over 10 years ago, finally completing a 1,152-day nonstop voyage without resupply, an extraordinary feat of endurance and resourcefulness. Reid's primary modus vivendi is the depiction of life as he sees it in art and artistic expression, including "GPS art", akin to the environmental artistic displays of Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Here is a recent article on Reid Stowe, from the Spear's magazine, entitled "Whatever Floats His Boat."

An interview with Tom Ashbrook of NPR's On Point summarizes the challenges of the journey:

Response to Radio Show on CIUT called "Indigenous Waves"

Here is my commentary in full to a show that aired on the U. of Toronto's CIUT radio station, called "Indigenous Waves." This particular episode of the show involved a discussion of the Idle No More movement, with guest Ian Campeau aka DeeJay NDN. Following the show, I expressed my opinion about the movement so far, and some of the antagonism voiced by Idle No More supporters towards any and all criticism leveled at Chief Spence. For those who don't know, Spence pretended to go on a life-threatening hunger strike, which turned out to be a mild form of sacred fast. She continued this manipulative protest action for 44 days, starting December 11, 2012, and ending on January 24, 2013. Throughout this period, Spence claimed to be approaching a state of imminent death, which became less and less believable as the weeks wore on.

Here is my response to the show that aired on January 21, 2013, on CUIT.

I listened to the entire show you aired on Mon., Jan. 21, 2013. I was very annoyed by the fact that the host (Susan Blight?) said some critics of Chief Spence (who you ALL carelessly label as trolls) have few followers on Twitter. Well, I am a critic of Spence for falsely advertising her hunger strike as a fast unto death and I happen to have fewer than 80 followers, because I am not famous, don’t use tricks to get followers, and wait for followers to follow me. The medicinal tea, lemon water, moose and fish broth, and vitamins that Chief Spence ingested over 44 days were never that harmful to her health, as proven by her very short visit to the hospital over the days 23 to 26 January. She tried to fool the media into exaggerating her precarious state of health, playing her “victim” role to the hilt. Maybe she can get an Academy Award for best Actress!

If she was serious about her sacred fast, and her supposed reverence for its significance, she would not have abused it as a tool for political advantage and deception. She shamed herself and all that indigenous people stand for, by abusing this sacred fast.

Please stop labeling any critics who abhor this shameful behaviour by Chief Spence, as trolls. I am not a troll. I am an intelligent, thoughtful, deep-thinking individual who happens to have a very good sense of what is honest and good vs. what is dishonest and crooked. Chief Spence is a self-absorbed, power-hungry individual who happened to go on a fake hunger strike, and thus duped everybody into thinking she was a saint, like Gandhi or Mother Teresa. Well, I have some news for you! Chief Spence is a fraud and a skunk, who deserves no honour and no praise for misusing her position as Chief to threaten a Prime Minister and a Governor General with suicide if they don’t comply with her wishes. 

I am so angry with this whole sordid situation, but instead of spreading hate and vitriol, I have simply used my rights as a citizen of Canada to express my opinion freely via social networks, to lay out the facts and the truth as I see it. All my criticisms were directed at the sham of a hunger strike that was falsely promoted into some sort of Jesus-like sacrifice unto death. It was far from that. In fact, my honest opinion is that Chief Spence knew she had failed as a Chief — failed her own people — and was looking for a sneaky way out of the mess, namely duping an entire nation into thinking she could be a martyr for indigenous people. Never was the Press and the Canadian populace more deceived than this.

Finally, I listened carefully to what DeeJayNDN had to say and was very impressed with his dedication to helping the cause of indigenous rights. My only concern is that he has a slightly inflated ego if he thinks that labeling all critics of Chief Spence as racist is OK. It is not OK, at least not with me. I had every right to be critical of the methods that Chief Spence employed to pull the wool over the eyes of ignorant Canadians. Let’s hope that this exercise in futility — staging a hunger strike when it was supposed to be a sacred fast — has woken up Canadians to the deviousness of some First Nations Chiefs, and will encourage them to realize that people like Atleo, Coon Come, and other sensible leaders are the ones who will finally be the mediators of solid progress in Indigenous Rights in Canada. The approach that Idle No More has taken thus far is far short of effective in garnering the sympathy of most Canadians, who, like me, think for themselves, do their own research and are skeptical of the mainstream media. Beware of your enemy, for if you continue to take Canadians for granted as ignorant, boorish and racist, your worst enemy is yourselves, since you have lost all credibility for solving the real problems of the 21st Century for indigenous peoples of Canada.

I posted the above comments on the website for Indigenous Waves, at Ian Campeau aka DeeJay NDN talks Idle No More racism in the mainstream and social media.

Tweets on the topic of Chief Spence's protest action -- 2nd set

These are further tweets relating to the protest action of Chief Spence, and overlapping the date when she ended the so-called "hunger strike" on Victoria Island, in Ottawa, Canada.

(NB: link no longer available.)

The protest action by Chief Spence

I have collected my tweets with @ChiefTheresa (as reply or mention) over the days Jan. 14-18, 2013. This period of time is relevant as it follows the meetings set up by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General David Johnston with AFN (Assembly of First Nations) chiefs on Jan. 11.

Tweets about Chief Theresa

Big Crunch

I was watching this video of the aftermath of a car crash (no serious injuries) resulting from excessive speeds on Notre Dame Ave. in Winnipeg, MB. The news was covered by the Winnipeg Free Press at this article -- Police investigate whether shots, crash linked.

At one point this image appeared in the video:

I could not help but see the irony in this still image, in relation to the sandwich known in Canada as "Big Crunch" (at KFC Canada, known for its chicken). It appears that the driver got the "Big Crunch", but not the one he was looking for. The sign on the right also advertises "Now Hiring -- Delivery Drivers". Hopefully, he was not trying out for that job.

Further details on this mysterious incident are available at another news source:
Cops probe link in car shooting, car crash.

I did some research on Audi cars of the period 1990-1994 and figured that the model of car involved was an Audi 100 (C4) 1991 - 1994. Some representative photos are available here and here. Apparently, the Audi seen in the picture above was traveling at high speeds (evading police cruisers) sometime after 4:45 a.m. on Wed. 14 March 2012, and was involved in a roll-over before coming to stop on all 4 wheels next to the KFC fast-food restaurant. Something tells me that the driver of this vehicle was one lucky dude to be able to run away from that one! It's also good advertising for the rolling capabilities of an Audi (good old German engineering).

Update, 8 months later
--The two incidents on the night in question were indeed linked, and suspects were apprehended.
Suspects nabbed in smash-up, shooting

Rose Fyleman Visits Winnipeg (1929)

We get a snapshot of the Social Scene in Winnipeg in this extract out of the Manitoba Free Press (Dec. 5, 1929). In particular, the author Rose Fyleman, at age 52, paid a visit to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to speak to a couple of Women's clubs of the day. She spoke Wed. Dec. 4 to the Women's Canadian club, followed by tea as a guest of the Winnipeg branch, Canadian "Women's Press club." Finally, she was wined and dined by Mrs. Harrison Gilmour in the evening. As described in the "Social and Personal" section of the Manitoba Free Press (which two years later was to become the Winnipeg Free Press), "Pink roses centred the table, which was lighted by sunset tapers."

Here is an extract of the original newspaper article from 1929:

"Social and Personal" Manitoba Free Press Dec. 5, 1929, p.10

Mrs. Harrison Gilmour entertained
at dinner last evening in honor of
Mrs. George Galt and Miss Rose Fyleman.
Pink roses centred the table,
which was lighted by sunset tapers.

The guests included Mrs. George
Galt, Miss Rose Fyleman, Mr. and Mrs.
Rupert Reece, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad S.
Riley, Mr. and Mrs. Athol McBean, Mr.
and Mrs. Lally Dennison, Miss Joyce
Marples, Col. Godson-Godson, Col.
Hugh Osler and Mr. W. A. Murphy.

* * * * * * * * *

A large attendance of members of
the Women's Canadian club enjoyed a
delightful hour yesterday afternoon,
listening to an address entitled "Poetry
and Children for One Hundred Years,"
and to the sympathetic reading of
poems for children.
Miss Rose Fyleman, famous writer
of stories and poems for children
and a contributor to "Punch," was the
speaker. The meeting, held in the
banquet hall, Royal Alexandra hotel,
was presided over by Mrs. P. C. Shepherd,
president of the club.
Miss Fyleman referred to the days
when poetry for children dealt with
fearsome tales of everlasting punishment
rather than the whimsical beauty
and interests of child life, as today.
With regard to the importance of
poetry and the teaching of it in schools,
Miss Fyleman stated that in her opinion
the future of the country lies, to a
great extent, in the hands of the school
teachers. She advised encouraging
children to write poetry, but not publishing
collections of a child's poetry
which is not of literary value other
than for use in texts on child psychology.
The importance of not attempting
to write down to a child, but
rather of writing simple subjects and
enhancing them with the romantic,
the mysterious and the incident not
yet experienced by the readers, was
stressed. Miss Flyeman read favorite
poems from famous writers and several
of her own beautiful poems.

* * * * * * * * *

Miss Rose Fyleman of London, Eng.,
authoress of children's poems, was
the guest of the Winnipeg branch,
Canadian "Women's Press club" at tea
Wednesday afternoon at the Lodge on
Hargrave Street. Miss Fyleman chat-
ted informally with the members on
the writing of poems. Miss Kennethe
Haig, vice-president, presided. Mrs.
C. S. Riley was also a guest of the
club on this occasion. Miss Thelma
Le Cocq poured tea.

Just delightful... That same evening—according to an interview that the CBC conducted many years later with a former president of one of those clubs—Rose Fyleman was inspired, after a walk to the Manitoba Parliament Building, to write a descriptive poem about "Winnipeg at Christmas." That poem was recited by several generations of children at Christmastime. A link to the poem can be found here: In Winnipeg at Christmas.

Symphony gets hot in July

As July was moving into its hottest phase of the summer, the Shreveport musicians of the city's own orchestra were hammering out a rescue package to keep the symphony alive as an organization. The efforts were productive, as an agreement was reached to prolong the existence of the SSO for another 2 years, in a reduced format, as far as investment of time and money. The cut of the core musicians' salaries by 45% was a major feature, which might or might not be the end of the symphony as we know it. Let's see what transpires in the next two years. The phoenix might yet arise out of the ashes! Here is the scoop as portrayed by the Shreveport Times on July 19, 2010:

Shreveport Symphony board, musicians reach agreement

By Donecia Pea • doneciapea@gannett.com • July 19, 2010

Symphony board president Richard Bremer had barely gotten the words out before the applause erupted Monday morning.

"It is my pleasure to announce that the board and musicians have entered a new two-year agreement…" Bremer said, kicking off the first of many rounds of applause among the packed house at the Symphony House.

After more than two years of contentious negotiations, including an 18-month strike and this past spring's mini-season, board members and musicians have agreed to a contract that will keep the full-time core musicians intact and include a 45 percent salary cut, instead of the initial contract proposal two years ago that would have included a 75 percent pay cut.

The contract takes effect immediately and will run through May 31, 2012.

"The key thing for us is that the full-time core musicians remained intact. There were a few other things, like travel costs for out-of-town musicians. But the main thing that was important to us was maintaining the core professional musicians," said musicians' spokesman and principal trumpet player Rick Rowell.

"The pay cut is not the best, but it's better than it could have been. We found a middle ground."

The press conference included a parade of officials from symphony board chairwoman and longtime symphony supporter Virginia Shehee and symphony music director Michael Butterman to Shreveport Mayor Cedric Glover, as they expressed their thanks and excitement for the new season.

The first concert is set for Nov. 13. More details on that concert will be announced.