To thine own self be true

in Canada and the States the last 10 years.

with city council having eliminated mosquito spraying.

(Nature @ U of A, other seasons)

Edmonton’s river valley aside, it is difficult to find much natural beauty in this city’s crumbling infrastructure and wasteland appearance wherever construction is ongoing. One favorite retreat for years had been the U of A early mornings, weekends, especially Sundays. U of A, though lately, has admitted more business and technologies while wilfully short-changing what the broader soul and mind needs–Humanities and the Arts, what with the recent talk of the u tearing down the Humanities Centre! Much like the downsized and deconstructed public schools sorely lacking in the Arts, we’re seeing an increasing starvation of the spirit and soul, locally and provincially.

No “it” ain’t just all about money and business. Nature is, likewise, being squeezed out of this province with unconscionable UCP mining, etc. And so, I find, more and more Nature and what sustains the spirit is to be found in smaller scenes and moments within this million plus metropolis and province running off the rails. As in the previous poem and the previous birdbath poem, the inner pleasures more and more are in the smaller details like the u fish pond and the flower baskets and pots that used to grace the u when its focus was more integrated with nature. Yup, scared places are few in this burgh.

From my retirement from teaching (2002) to about 2016 or so, I would walk to the fish pond behind the Humanities Centre (which U of A is threatening to take down) on weekends. The u kept the pond stocked with goldfish and others from May to September. Sooner or later, the Blakean micro-macro metaphors emerged. (And, no, I never fed them.)

Obit: Guy Lafleur, 70, Montreal Canadiens great.

In the early ’80s, I wrote a sonnet about him when he surprised everyone by retiring early.

Lafleur

S.H.C.I : aka Silver Heights Collegiate, a senior high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba–now demolished–which was in operation from 1957 to 2007, capped by a fantastic reunion weekend July 5-8, 2007.

1964-65:

The late great Barry Anderson directed a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that year complete with rented costumes for the whole cast. Pretty bold and amazing.

1965-66:

In his last year at SHCI, Barry then directed a famous musical set in Scotland, with costumes and Scottish dancing. Highest attendance ever for a school production up to that time.

1966-67:

(above right: Ed Greene)

(cast party, Woodhaven Church hall; entertainment by Rick Davies, Ed Greene, and Eric Crone–harmonica)

Kathy Korol took over from Barry and staged another Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Trial by Jury. The Drama Club led by Miss Johnson and Mrs. Lamb, simultaneously, staged a comedy The Red Velvet Goat on the same evenings.

As you can see by all the names of the people involved, these were major productions that students rehearsed for months and then performed for a few evenings including matinees for the student body. These were easily the main events from those three special years at S.H.C.I.

“A vote for Republicans is a vote to destroy democracy.”

No need to fudge about or delude people about this simple, obvious fact.

Thanks to your totally honest, conscientious, and intelligent handling of the pandemic, Alberta has the lowest rate of vaccinations of any province or territory! You win again!!

Though redneck/trucker convoy/antivaxxers figure into that stat, you have to look at things like Denna Hinshaw pronouncing the pandemic as over last summer and the quiet closing of the Agricom in Edmonton for mass vaccinations–“The Pandemic is over, folks!” has been the consistent UCP messaging way ahead of and different from all other provinces the past two years.

Jason and the UCP have been totally against the people of this province since day 1 and Kenney’s corruption began with the first leadership vote (still mired today in murky legal jeopardy) and continues through the rigged leadership vote result none of us are waiting for with bated breath because the fix was in as soon as he changed the voting procedure. Yes, yes, we already know he “won” in a vote that should have taken no more than 24 hours to announce a result for.

it’s not surprising that fraud rates and schemes are way up.

Shakespeare’s works have enlarged my consciousness and sensibility many times over since first encountering him in gr. 10/1965 in the “Pyramus and Thisbe” play within the fanciful A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and more seriously/deeply in Macbeth (gr. 11/1966). I was also introduced to his most famous sonnets in gr. 12/1967; he is, incidentally, the most famous and prolific (154) sonnet-writer. I have been to more of his 37 plays than anyone else’s; I have read, seen, and studied 21 of his most famous and popular plays and own the BBC Shakespeare set on DVD. (He is, of course, unrivalled as the greatest writer in English ever.)

(recommended: the perfect desert island book)

I also own many Shakespeare classic movies including The Hollow Crown series, Pacino’s Looking for Richard,  and Branagh’s recent take on Shakespeare: All Is True. On LP record, I have Olivier’s Othello, Burton’s Hamlet, and the classic MGM movie of Julius Caesar. Suffice to say, I am well-acquainted with Shakespeare’s works, and used to teach the sonnets, Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest, King Lear, and Twelfth Night variously over 30 years.