“Half the words we use have no meaning whatever and of the other half each man understands each word after the fashion of his own folly and conceit.”
A relevant, prophetic insight into the limits and limitations of the Word in our chaotic topsy-turvy, corrupt time.
don’t fall down or have an accident. The ambulances have stopped running or been severely delayed and Kenney, he don’t care.
Don’t get sick and, above all, don’t need surgery. Hospitals don’t have the staff or beds to help you. They’re no longer in the surgery biz. And Kenney, he don’t care.
The prevailing attitude and response in North America whenever the spotlight of blame gets turned on working individuals and government types.
“I didn’t do anything. Those other guys did.”
Passing the buck. Having no responsibility, especially the guys making big bucks.
They are not actually blue, but blue only to human eyes. Lucky us.
If you watch them come in for a peanut, they will often check each one if there is more than one. They are looking for the heaviest, maximum treat possible.
Also, before they fly off, they briefly survey the area, deciding which direction and where they are going.
We currently have a family of 4, with one of them having a tufted head like Woody Woodpecker.
We have long liked chickadees, robins, and nuthatches, but our contacts with blue jays here have increased here during the pandemic.
that the power would go off in the dead of winter happened finally today for an hour. Fortunately, EPCOR came thru in one hour and we got lucky. Last day of the cold snap no less, but it sure did cool off fast. An outside fuse had to be replaced.
We suspect one of our brute neighbors was messing with his electricity; an extra electrical truck is still in front of his house.
It is difficult not to have a deep, abiding respect for imagination, creativity, vision, talent, and genius.
For that wonderful ability to realize these and to bring to fruition works of note in memorable, powerful, and unique ways that extend the best of cultures, civilization, and individuals.
As Matthew Arnold put it, “the best that has been known and said [and done] in the world and thus with the history of the human spirit.”
Looking back, I recall the heroes of youth and adulthood–the many who have touched us deeply, informed and motivated us, and moved us forward in our her/history.
The great ‘birthings’, inventions, and other new discoveries that brought ‘aery nothings’ to consciousness and realized form and expression where before there was nothing, chaos, and darkness, thereby enlarging our minds, hearts, spirits, and myriad possibilities.
The many lessons and examples of the truly greats are everyday around us, always have been, always will be. And, as always, we must needs learn, grow, facilitate, and perpetuate this inherited wisdom in our own lives and those of others.
Some questions:
What do we put into ourselves to make ourselves and others better each day?
What can we learn from the greats and the significant human achievements across the arts and sciences?
Do we perceive, understand, and appreciate remarkable human beings, their accomplishments, and larger, life-enhancing visions?
What is our own capacity to be changed and to grow in purposeful, meaningful, and fulfilling ways?
With the passage of a great artist and human being–Sidney Poitier, we are reminded again of the nature of life, process, change, the passing of time, and the ever-recurrent presence of Death throughout all our lives.
Much as is Donne’s “No man is an island”, a response is called for. What do we feel and think about him? What did we like or love about him while he was here? Why was he unique, special, good, great, and inspiring? And so there are many reasons for those who know or knew of him to mourn, miss, and treasure now that he’s gone physically.
Death is always with us. Look at the pictures of the family dead in our homes. Reflect on how many books or programs we’ve encountered about real people, especially the greats, who are no longer with us. Recall those we’ve known who have recently passed. Consider how much news is about death and the dead. These are reference points to death each day in our transitory lives. And as Dylan sang, “He not busy being born is busy dying.” Fact. Truth. Perspective. All within one of his many famous quotes.
Given those truths, how do we regard and treat others? Well? Kindly? Generously? Respectfully? Thoughtfully? As ends unto themselves as Kant theorized. Or as objects, things, or as used means to ends? Abused, exploited, corruptly, immorally, etc. Like dirty diapers in extreme cases as one doctor put it.
Personally, I remain buoyed by family, true friends, and the Poitiers, Martin Luther Kings, Gandhis, Bachs, Michelangelos, Rodins, Einsteins, Hawkings, Teresas, Bantings, and Shakespeares of human history and Western civilization, in particular.
Those guys who are real people, honest not phonies. People who care for the many, who bring beauty and scientific wisdom to the world. Those who shine and bring light to life. Those who empathize, sympathize and care for the good of the greatest number. Those who are the best of Us and serve as positive, inspiring role models for the younger generations to come.
Those who help rather than harm and hate others. Those who stand up for their visions and what they believe against an otherwise, widespread, howling nothingness. Decent human beings who believe in Truth, honesty, Equality, Justice, fairness, Goodness, and Beauty.
What matters, as I’ve previously noted, is, finally, our response to the deaths of those who matter, who were important, who left Us and the world a better place overall.
Inevitably, after a notable death, we are recurringly endowed with the possibility to learn and make change in ourselves and others, as did the person who went nobly before. To conclude, we are given the opportunity for new and continued life, and a chance to see more deeply into the nature of Life–what is truly meaningful, significant, permanent, and ever-lasting. A considerable privilege and legacy of real consequence to be sure.
Pandora’s box of legalized drugs, all for the cynical motive of getting votes.
I predicted younger kids would take the fall for this incredibly stupid, selfish, socially irresponsible move and now the chickens are coming home to roost with the sale of toxic pot treats that look attractive to innocent, ignorant young kids and teens.
Who’s to blame for the ballooning of doped kid cases in hospitals which can no longer accommodate anybody more? Trudeau. Our worst PM in Canadian history. Cap’n Socks/General Selfie/Blackface Justin.
numerous services has been shown to work and should be applied vigorously in all provinces, including redneck ones like AB and SK. Hit ’em where it hurts across the board.
However, if hospital systems start to shut down and become even more apocalyptic-looking, there is no choice but a mandatory vax law across Canada. This, with the goal of saving hospital systems and schools, in particular. The greatest good for the greatest number. Putting an end to an otherwise endless pandemic now in year 3.
I have no problem going the mandatory vaccination route with non-vaxxers who are spreading the virus to others including their better halves, their kids, their friends, their extended families, their coworkers, and innocent third parties. They have no use for others and for society. They are no better than murderers when they infect others who get extremely ill or die. A no-brainer all the way.
Sidney Poitier, 94. (1927-2022)
Massive presence. Huge life. Magnificent film career.
I consider myself very fortunate to have attended his “Evening with Sidney Poitier” here at the Jubilee in little old E-Town about a decade ago. Some people have presence writ large and he was a prime example.
I saw all three key films made in 1967 which cemented his reputation: To Sir, with Love, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and the unforgettable In the Heat of the Night (with the slap of a white man’s face that was heard across America). Before that, The Blackboard Jungle in which he plays a cool, somewhat ambiguous teen who, surprisingly, turns out to be a good guy. The Slender Thread, A Patch of Blue, The Defiant Ones, and A Raisin in the Sun. Sid was hot, likable, and a powerful actor.
First black actor to win an AA. Front-line champion of Civil Rights. A director of some very funny comedies like Uptown Saturday Night and Stir Crazy. And an action-film actor later in his career. Sid did it all.
But I also got to know him better through his audiobooks like The Measure of a Man which revealed his troubled coming of age, transition to America, and initial film successes. I recall well his near-escape from death as a kid when he was trapped by the sea in a collapsing channel and, later, his itinerant life of street poverty sleeping where he could, even on rooftops in New York City. If you want to get to know him better, that would be the place I recommend you start.
A great human being and talent whose name has long been synonymous with courage, integrity, and genuine class.
(The book his excellent audiobook was based on; one of a few fine books he wrote about his life and upbringing.)
(His first bio, a signed copy of which I have–below.)
(Signed, confidently and very self-assured, at the height of his career for a movie theatre mogul-friend.)
(Likewise, made around the same time: a bold, risky LP; a hip jazzy spoken word album reciting philosophical excerpts from Plato–these available on the Internet.)
(A somewhat scarce early work; his performance in the first (South African) adaptation of Alan Paton’s Cry, The Beloved Country.)
(First film of his I saw as a teenager; he steals several scenes.)
(A huge, dynamic performance as a father and husband in Lorraine Hansberry’s famous play about urban blacks being discriminated against when they go house-hunting.)
(Although he’d won the AA for Lilies of the Field, he continued to give even stronger, memorable roles in very different challenging parts during 1965 and 1966.)
(Till he finally achieved major stardom in 3 films in one year; in the above film, as the charming teacher with integrity who teaches poor English high-school students memorable lessons about life and character.)
(Another of the ’67 films, which was a major social commentary on the racist American South; a very risky project for Poitier whose life was threatened during the shooting; he stayed with Canadian director Norman Jewison in his hotel room for this reason.)
(The memorable roles continued late in his career; he worked often with big stars like Michael Caine, Harry Belafonte, and Robert Redford.)
(The definitive documentary)
(Often written about by critics as one of the great actors.)
(A recent magazine about him, nicely timed.)
(He was saluted in this wonderful 1992 ltd. ed. souvenir program–many scenes from his movies with commentary.)
