To thine own self be true

That has such infallible, unintrusive devices like iPad that arbitrarily change your phrases, words, and spellings in e-mails making you look stupid. Fight back. Reread your e-mails before sending anything. You’ll be appalled at what changes your iPad has slipped in to subvert your communication and thinking. All part of the ongoing prevailing dumbing-down going on.

Over 1,420 people died of illegal drug overdoses in B.C. in 2017.

Long-term: a thing of the past
Common law: more common; marriage not guaranteed
Marriages: short term at best; some might last longer than 1-2 years.
Hookups and one-night stands: more common and socially acceptable
Trust/trusting anyone: uncommon, rare
Lies and betrayal: more common and prevalent
Relationships: ephemeral, transitory, and disposable

“I dwell in possibility”–Emily Dickinson
“I am large, I contain multitudes”–Walt Whitman

“A poem should be a part of one’s sense of life.”–Wallace Stevens
“Poetry reminds us of the richness and diversity of human existence.”–John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“Poetry is a perfectly possible means of overcoming chaos.”–I. A. Richards

“A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.”–W.H. Auden
“Poetry is a performance in words.”–Robert Frost
“A poet is a state of mind.”–Virginia Moore
“To be a poet is a condition rather than a profession.”–Robert Graves
Great poets do not die; they are continuing presences.”–Virginia Woolf

“The figure a poem makes. It begins in delight and ends in wisdom.”–Robert Frost
“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.”–T.S. Eliot
“Genuine poetry is conceived and composed in the soul.”–Matthew Arnold
“A poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence because he has no identity–he is continually informing and filling some other body.”–John Keats
“The reader who is illuminated is, in a real sense, the poem.”–H.M. Tomlinson
“Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge.”–William Wordsworth
“No man was ever yet a great poet, without being at the same time a profound philosopher.”–Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“To a poet nothing can be useless.”–Samuel Johnson
“The moment of change is the only poem.”–Adrienne Rich

From Edmonton to the Dominican Republic.

Edmonton: Guy running on ice downhill into the valley falls and breaks his wrist. Bad, stupid choice. No common sense. Much like bike-lane falls and injuries in winter.

Dominican Republic: couple gets hookworms on beach which requires meds you can only buy in the States. Other Canadians saying they want to get married in DR and frolic on the beaches. If they get hookworms and are cryin’ the blues that they can’t get meds here in Canada for it, no sympathy.

If people have the information or lack common sense about injuries and afflictions easily avoided by common-sense choice, no sympathy. These are totally self-inflicted, self-willed, dumb choices. People ultimately have to take responsibility for these stupid choices. No one to blame but themselves.

(3 jr. high texts not shown here)

I continue to receive royalties every 6 months from 50 textbooks and teacher guides I wrote and edited 37 years ago. I certainly had no idea when I began writing and editing that my work would continue to have a life way beyond my early retirement from teaching in 2002 and from textbook writing and teacher conferencing in 2010.

I chose a unique path into writing beginning in 1977 that the vast majority of teachers did not choose, resulting in authorizations in all of the provinces in three decades and over a million copies sold. Even today you can still go to schools across Canada and find my books used in classrooms and districts. No other Canadian author in high school English textbooks ever had the career and long-term success I did.

And I was very lucky to have supportive publishers who wanted my books and excellent co-authors (Jerry Wowk and Glen Kirkland). I could not have asked for better writing companions, who were equally strong with me on the conference trail, presenting to thousands of teachers in various provinces.

The Take-Away

Although he tricks and outwits KARLA, the number of references that Smiley should retire for good are equally resonant.
This series is as also about the mental acuity and competence of Smiley (in contrast to his Russian foes)–no cobwebs or Alzheimer’s here.
Although Smiley is a unique impressive character on many counts, it is emphasized throughout that he’s ‘still got it’.
It is something that he himself doubts–most noticeable when KARLA is crossing the bridge and he looks away.
He also feels bad about how he has brought down his long-time nemesis.
That he leaves Ann’s cigarette lighter gift on the ground at the end also signals the end of that relationship for good.
Smiley will always be a loner, true to his character.

Acorn’s 6 part/3 disc series is a worthy successor to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, also starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley. *North Americans unaccustomed with British accents and the perils of live British sound will probably find this to be much ado about nothing. In any case, the mysteries are non-stop and so only patient viewers who are interested in realistic, suspenseful spy drama would have a shot at enjoying this.

Otherwise, I cannot say enough good things about the solid British acting here including:
Guinness as Smiley
Eileen Atkins as Madame Ostrakova
Bernard Hepton as Toby Esterhase
Michael Lonsdale as Grigoriev
Tusse Silberg as Alexandra
Siam Phillips as Ann
Barry Foster as Enderby
Anthony Bate as Oliver
Michael Byrne as Peter.
This is one of the best tv series casts ensemble for any UK series.

Whereas the first series was about a ‘mole’ within the Circus, this was finally about bringing down the big Russian superspy. There are numerous obstacles and numerous loose ends are unresolved until Smiley gets to each one. Easily, with the 1st series, the top two tv spy series ever done; the second being a nice stretch after series 1. Highly recommended for those who are into Mystery and suspense, who like great character acting, who are patient viewers, and who are not bothered by UK live sound or British and Russian accents.

you’d have to logically conclude that we are living in an age of sexual McCarthyism.

Don Iveson & Edm. City Council declaring bike lanes as the priority for road cleaning after the winter’s most massive dump of snow.
Who in their right minds would be or need to be on a bike in winter and in this kind of weather?
Who in their right minds would make such a stupid choice?
It’s quite clear again that Don and the boys have declared war on Edmonton drivers. Just look at road destruction and non-maintenance in 2017.
Waste, waste, waste. Deluded, deluded, deluded. Plain nuts.

I was lucky I got to tell him this past year at the Yardbird Suite how much I appreciated his Christmas album which has wonderfully original, tasteful arrangements. I’m glad to see he was enjoying himself (he was carrying two drinks) and the evening’s music, especially knowing he’s now dead via leukemia. He clearly appreciated the kudo on that album.

But speaking of music, that’s the kind of guy he was: tasteful, always dressed classily in a suit, always doing a class job with whatever projects he manned, both big and small.
Which bestirs another memory of “Beans and Bards”–a ‘coffee house’ evening of poetry and jazz in Harry Ainlay school agora decades ago when I read poetry backed by Tommy’s combo. He met with me before we went on to ‘chart’ the readings, playing some samples while I gave him some key and rhythm cues. Imagine me doing that for Tommy Banks! Imagine his group backing me up! A consummation devoutly to be wished.

Well, I have often had more than my fair share of lucky opportunities and special contacts. And Tommy was real Canadian musical royalty. Such a class act, a true gentleman, and a great player. I will sorely miss him. No one, but no one will ever replace him or do the fantastic things he uniquely did for Canadian jazz and music.