To thine own self be true

Celine Dion posed nude for Vogue and the millions who were ‘slavering’ to see her in the all-together!

(Funny what constitutes headlines of the day and hard news these daze.)

much more important, significant, and meaningful than one’s little, limited/limiting work and work world.

Christie Blatchford’s column today, “Khadr Doing All Right Without Our Money”, in National Post. She is so right about phony-baloney Canadian social-progressive notions: “A young jihadist is now a hero in Canada for killing an infidel–and look, he got a big payday to boot.”

there are the things one chooses to do regardless of others’ feelings, opinions, reactions, input, agendas, and manipulations. ‘To thine own self be true’ has long and always worked as a credo for a true individual and for heroes.

(Terry’s actual shirt above; from Victoria exhibition I saw in May)

magpies and crows in residential neighborhoods. A relentless, bothersome screeching and caw-cawphony. At this point, Alberta has definitely gone to the birds.

Oddly enough, a male Northern flicker dropped by the feeding tray. Don’t usually see those till autumn and winter (as above) when it’s colder.

our master of public speaking, Justin, doesn’t know his basic geography of this country. Alberta has been a province for over a century. A slap in the AB NDP face?

Friday in Edmonton. Now the home A/Cs can be pulled out as it finally heads toward 30! Hard to imagine (for many Edmontonians)what it would be like to live in Phoenix or Vegas in the summer. And hard, too, to imagine living where the humidity is unrelenting all summer in places like steamy Winnipeg, T.O. or Montreal. The long winters and cold define us when it comes to heat, humidity, and normal summer weather. Somewhat wimpy and weak,I suppose. The products of living in a cold country and this far north.

“Canada is the only country in the world that has never had a national identity.”
–Marshall McLuhan

–“Historically, a Canadian is an American who rejects the Revolution.”
–Northrop Frye, Letters in Canada, 1952

“We have often been told of our necessary dullness because we had no Revolutionary War, no French Revolution, no War between the States.”
–Milton Wilson, Other Canadians and After, 1958

“Canadians ask themselves whether they have become free of Britain’s colonial influence only to fall under the spell of the United States’ economic imperialism.”
–Walter Gordon, A Choice for Canada

“No one can deny that Quebec is, culturally and sociologically, a distinct society. So is Newfoundland.”
–Eugene Forsey, 1990

“Nobody understands one damn thing except that he’s better than everyone else.”
–Hugh MacLennan, Two Solitudes, 1945

“There isn’t any one Canada, any average Canadian, any average place, type.”
–Miriam Chapin, They Outgrew Bohemia, 1960

“Canada is not really a place where you are encouraged to have large spiritual adventures.”
–Robertson Davies, “The Master’s Voice”, Maclean’s , 1972

“Boy Meets Girl in Winnipeg and Who Cares?”
–Hugh MacLennan, Scotchman’s Return and Other Essays, 1960

“A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe.”
–Pierre Berton

A brief, respectable, respectful exit on his own terms, magnanimously facilitated by his devoted, loving son Adam.
Nine goodbyes. A distinguished finale by one of Canada’s great artists, poets, and performers who is now definitely a contender for the top 10 greatest Canadians (certainly from the field of the arts).
The lyrics are deceptively simple as usual with numerous ambiguous lines:

“If you are the dealer
I’m out of the game”

“You want it darker
We kill the flame”

“I wish there was a treaty we could sign”

“I turned my back on the devil
turned my back on the angel too.”

(Patrick Leonard who co-wrote and co-produced also deserves a big thank-you for helping Leonard see this special artifact through to its unique, aesthetic conclusion.)

You Want It Darker covers a lot of the bases that thoughtful, conscious people typically go through in their final illnesses on their way to death. Along the way, Cohen revisits the religion of his youth (signified by a synagogue choir and some Jewish phrasing), his mixed feelings about our crazy chaotic modern world, and his views on love and lovers on his journey to death, and his negotiated, personal relationship with God. Ironically, Cohen has been to dark and darker places before, and this last voyage/transition is as conflicted as ever, but finally resolved, instead, with a deeper integrity than ever before. This album is simply a major ‘letting go’ and total acceptance of The End by our greatest poet-songwriter.