Toronto Shooting

The media have been in hysterics the last few days about the tragic death of Jane Creba, the 15-year-old girl caught in the crossfire of a Boxing Day shootout in downtown Toronto. There has been much hand-wringing about gang violence, the illegal cross-border trade in guns, etc., etc. And so there should be - these are extremely serious problems.

But why is it that such issues are only brought to widespread attention when the victims are like Jane Creba - young, attractive, middle-class and white? Would there have been anywhere near as much attention paid if the person killed was not a pretty innocent teenager out shopping with her parents? Of course not. Only when the violence strays out of the enclaves inhabited by the have-nots do the haves sit up and take notice. Sad.

The Va Dinci Cod

Christmas should always have an element of wacky fun. So I've started reading a little book J. gave me called The Va Dinci Cod. I probably don't have to tell you that it's a parody (in the venerable tradition of similar works such as Bored of the Rings by the Harvard Lampoon) of an ersatz "intellectual thriller" that has sold by the shedload from airport departure lounges everywhere.

"An eminent, renowned museum curator lies dead in his own gallery, with a three-foot cod stuffed down his throat...."

I'm already enjoying it quite a bit.
*snicker*

On the Feast of Stephen

Well, it's been quite a relaxed day. A. and I dashed home earlier to gather up some stuff to take up to Cape Breton with us tomorrow. Opened some more presents as well, which was very good.

I didn't ask for anything in particular, but got lots of nice things anyway. Multiple bottles of booze, books, pieces of jewellery, choccies and candies; a crystal vase; a velvet shoe bag; tree ornaments; a glass bowl...et cie. A.'s family also gave us a very nice fireplace set (poker, tongs, shovel, etc.) which we really needed as we use our fireplace quite a lot now. My parents gave me my present early - I got a box of over a hundred vintage postcards, which they got a few months ago at auction. Nearly all of them date from the 1900s to the 1920s and they are absolutely wonderful...now I just need to figure out a nice way to display them.

Tonight it's another groaning dinner, before we battle the continuing torrential rain (which is melting all the snow, happily) en route to CB in the morning. In the meantime, over at the McWetlog, my friend Jonathan has presented a selection of holiday tunes for your consideration...heh heh.

Happy Christmas

With the in-laws today, and it's been quite nice. Present-opening was of epic proportions; it began at 8 am and didn't end till 2.30! Mind you, there was tea and breakfast and sherry in between, as well as breaks to get showered and dressed, and the taking of various phone calls from well-wishers. My in-laws are also freakishly patient people, who open gifts carefully with scissors and knives so as to re-use wrapping paper next year, etc. No joke! So that, coupled with the fact that gifts were opened one at a time and universally admired before proceeding to the next, meant that presents have taken up much of the day. Which - one must admit - is certainly not an unpleasant way to spend Christmas Day.

Dinner preparations now in full swing. A. and I have just finished our job, which is the first course - we made shrimp bisque. We're having duck for mains. Yummy!

Snowy

We've had a little light, fluffy snow these last few hours. It's making everything look very Christmassy. Not so nice for the people who still have to go shopping today, though!

A Christmas Carol

Just finished my annual viewing of A Christmas Carol. And not one of those rubbish modern versions either - it was the 1951 black-and-white version starring Alastair Sim as Scrooge:

This movie always used to freak me out a little when I was a kid - even now, I find some of the special effects (or lack thereof) unintentionally weird. Ah well, British film wasn't exactly at the cutting edge of technology back then. And it's still a great nostalgia trip.

"Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

Fromage 2005

I just finished watching Fromage 2005 on MuchMusic. As usual, it's one of the funniest programmes of the year. Ed the Sock is scathingly brilliant. Don't worry if you didn't see it though, as it will likely be shown over and over and over again in the coming weeks....

O Christmas Tree

I know it is odd to love inanimate objects. But I really, really love our Christmas tree. It's just so beautiful. And it smells so good. Every time I walk into the living room, that sweet, woody scent overtakes me. I even find myself feeling sorry that no one will be here in this house on Christmas day, to turn on its lights and admire it. OK, now that really is weird.

I'm not working tomorrow, so I plan on spending at least some of my day lying on the sofa, communing with my tree, eating the shortbreads I made at the weekend, and reading something inspiring.

Happy Winter Solstice

Feuer Zunge Bowle

A ha! Courtesy of my FIL, I now give you the famed 'fire tongue bowl'!

Christmas Flickr

Dismayed to discover that I have no photos of last night's main event. A. decided to make a video instead - which did not come out as the light was too low. Argh. Perhaps my father-in-law will be able to oblige.

Made a Christmas album over at Flickr anyway - whatever festive pics I have, I will put there over the next week or two.

Urgh

Fine evening last night chez nous (I'll post pics later), but the glühwein...Lord.

I only had two glasses of the stuff, mindful that I had to work today (and very nice it was, too). Still, the sulfites in the red wine, plus the very substantial infusion of rum, meant I woke up with a headache. Which has not gone away, despite having taken two Tylenols at breakfast time.

Nothing for it but to go get some coffee and feel a bit low for a few more hours, I guess. 'Tis the season.

Festiveness

Tree is up, pressies are wrapped...and the family are coming round later for a little holiday cheer. My sister-in-law's boyfriend M. is German, so we are celebrating a Teutonic tradition this evening. It has a very long name (but can be called a 'Bowle' for short) and seems mostly to involve quaffing from a big boozy punchbowl, which gets set alight at some point during the proceedings.

Not sure how we ended up volunteering to host this event.

*eyes fire extinguisher nervously*

Eau de Balsam Fir

We went to the lot just up the road at Chocolate Lake last night, to pick out a Christmas tree. Got a good full one, about 7' tall. Prices have gone up this year - it cost us $35! I'll never get used to having to pay money for a Christmas tree.

We got it home and laid it out in the hallway, to warm up. The scent from it is unusually strong. Lying in bed last night, it wafted up the stairs and into our room - to the point where I nearly got up and shut the door because it started to bother me! Which is odd, because normally I love the smell of a fir tree - but it will fade, I'm sure, as the tree dries out. Must be a nice fresh one.

Dreaming of East

Very attractive review in Saturday's Globe & Mail (which I'm just getting round to reading today) of a new book by Barbara Hodgson (whose latest novel, The Lives of Shadows, I've been meaning to get hold of for some time).

Called Dreaming of East: Western Women and the Exotic Allure of the Orient, it's just the sort of thing I probably would have plundered while working on my DPhil: full of wonderful illustrations and gripping anecdotes, likely too hagiographic to be of much critical use, but sufficiently 'on topic' to justify reading.

All Done

Just in from doing the very last of my Christmas shopping. Also posted the last of my Christmas cards and parcels. What a nice feeling.

All that's left to do is go get a tree on Friday night, and then put it up on Saturday (A. already put up the outdoor lights, over the weekend). Bring on the hols!

The JCB Song

I must be getting old or something. But I love 'The JCB Song' by Nizlopi (video online here), which is tipped to be the UK Christmas Number 1 single his year. It's just so sweet.

"I'm Luke, I'm five, and my dad's Bruce Lee / Drives me round in his JCB..."

*EDIT 10.07 am*

Aaahhhh! BBC Radio 2 is playing 'Fairytale of New York' by Shane McGowan and Kirsty McColl right now! It's the first time I've heard that this year.

OK, Christmas can officially begin now.

Deep Thoughts

You know, it's a good thing we have blogs. Where else would we get to expound on the really important questions - the weighty issues of our day?

To wit: just how many crap renditions of "O Holy Night" are out there, anyway? Today, as I sit here at work with the radio on, I have already been subjected to three: one by Destiny's Child, one by Avril Lavigne and Chantal Kreviazuk, and (just now) one by Clay Aitken.

Why, God? Why??

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Right then - I'm just in from seeing it. Verdict? Not perfect, but still quite good. All the elements were there, but some of the magic was missing.

• Acting was quite good - all the children were quite respectable, and there were star turns from Tilda Swinton (the White Witch), Liam Neeson (Aslan), and Ray Winstone (Mr. Beaver - when he referred to Aslan as the 'top geezer', I nearly busted a gut).
• Special effects were middling to good - quite uneven in fact, which was odd. Some things, like Aslan himself, were spectacular, but other characters and effects looked a little dated. Given the amount of money that went into this film, and the team behind it (Weta Workshop), this seems quite strange.
• The scriptwriters stayed very close to the novel - which I suppose was not hard to do, given that the novel is only about 170 pages of largish print. Not like Harry Potter, in that respect, where huge swathes of narrative had to be chopped.
• The Christian allegory was handled quite subtly, I thought. If anything, I worried about this aspect the most, fearing that viewers might be hit over the head with Aslan/Jesus parallels.

All in all, a faithful and well-executed adaptation of the novel. Despite this, however, it was not as magical as I hoped it might be. Of course, films like these rarely are. I guess I've been spoiled by the Lord of the Rings films in that respect.

In a nutshell? This first of the Narnia films (for there will doubtless be more) wasn't a patch on LOTR, but was rather better than any of the Harry Potters. So there you are.

An Unexpected Letter

Checking my backlog of e-mail earlier today, I found this lovely message and some accompanying photos:

------ Forwarded Message
From: "dean w."
Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2005 15:16:29 -0800
Subject: Hello from Seattle

Hi, Jen (of "Jen and Jana's Trip To The Loire Valley 2002").

My girlfriend and I just got back on Tuesday from a trip to the Loire Valley.

Months ago, in preparation for the trip I'd Googled "Loire Valley Travelogue" and came across your excellent and very helpful description of your travels there.

Jean and I stayed at "La Chaussee" with Madame and then spent 3 great days at "Le Moulin du Fief Gentil".

The mill is now run by a very outgoing, wonderful woman, Florence, and her husband, Francois-Xavier. I'm sure you'd enjoy meeting them. They purchased the mill from Ann and Roger. The mill and its new owners were a real find.

Jean and I just wanted to thank you for posting your very well written travelogue! It was fun to read and very helpful!

Happy Travels.

Dean/Jean
Seattle, Washington, USA
------

Isn't that brilliant? I've gotten a few messages like this over the years and I'm always floored by them. Reminded me, though, that I really need to go back to all my travelogues (not just the Loire one, above) and update the links, many of which have expired. Must make a note to do that, in my copious free time. ;-)

First Snow

Arrived back home last night just as the first real snowfall of the year was beginning. Slow, heavy, and wet, it soon blanketed everything, and weighed down trees, bushes and power lines. The electricity went out between midnight and 2.00 am. In the morning, we woke up to a couple inches of snow cover, which was rapidly freezing. Made for bad road conditions; A.'s clinic still had no power this morning and so was shut for the day.

It's unlikely to last, however. Tomorrow's forecast calls for heavy rain and temperatures well above freezing, so most of it should disappear. A sharp little reminder to finish the last of the yard work and put the garden to sleep for the winter. I bought those new boots in Montreal not a moment too soon, it seems!

At Home

Keeping purposefully busy here. Grandma's memorial service was held this morning. Just the six of us (as the wider family will be gathering this summer in Newfoundland, for the interment), and there was a priest on hand to say a few words. It was nice - but very sad.

This afternoon I helped my mother and aunt some more, going through my grandmother's personal things. By the end of the afternoon I had a little pile of things to take away with me. Some were gifts I have given to Grandma over the years - a thorn brooch from Glastonbury, a china dish from France, an early 18th-century Bible I found in a secondhand bookshop in Devon, a pair of leather gloves from Venice. Other things were her own possessions - her sewing box with embroidery silks, a copy of Tennyson, a pair of walking shoes she bought just a few months ago and hardly wore.

Late in the afternoon, my aunt handed me a folder full of papers and asked me to sort through them. They were copies of my grandmother's poems. I actually hadn't been aware that she wrote that much. Needless to say, they were hard to read. The most poignant is one she wrote in 2001, after her own mother died:

In a moment of stillness, she passed peacefully away
With contentment, for having lived to the fullness of her age,
She was prepared for the time when her mortal life would end,
And she wanted us to know, as she had said many times,
"I have been truly blessed, and now I have been fulfilled."

During the last days,
She recounted the lives of those she would leave behind,
Reaching back in her memory to find the pattern of events
Leading up to her present place in time, and she was satisfied
That indeed, she had done her best, and now all would be well.
There were no regrets.

Alice Winona Jean Keating, 1928-2005

My beloved Grandma, who had been ill for some time with cancer, passed away in hospital Monday night. My mother and aunt were with her. Her last moments were peaceful and dignified, which is a great relief. We are going to Cape Breton today, for a couple of days.

Her obituary appears today in the Toronto Star, the Cape Breton Post, and The Telegram in St. John's:

KEATING, ALICE WINONA (GOSSE) — "Passed gently into the good night." Alice Winona Keating, age 76, a resident of Big Bras d'Or and formerly of Toronto passed away peacefully Monday, December 5, 2005 at the Northside General Hospital, North Sydney.
Born in Newfoundland, she was the daughter of the late William Edgar and Marion (Reid) Gosse. She resided most of her life in Toronto, where she married, raised her six children and then retired to Cape Breton Island seven years ago. She was a loving wife, devoted mother, and grandmother.
She is survived by: brother: Gerald Edgar Gosse, NL; sister in spirit: Kay Gosse, Calgary; her six children: Karen Keating, Toronto, Jeannette (Lolek) M[...], Big Bras d'Or, William Keating (Michelle), Toronto, Gale McGowan (Erick), Penn., U.S.A., John Keating, Big Bras d'Or, Marion Craymer (John), Mississauga; grandchildren: Jennifer, Bryan, Jonathan, Justin, Kathryn, Sarah, Colton, Sam, Dora, Katelyn, Rebecca and Matthew.
Beside her parents, Alice was predeceased by her husband William Thomas Keating, her sister Ellie Rowe and brother Baxter Gosse, and grandchild Candice Keating.
There will be no visitation by request. A private family service will be held under the direction of W.J. Dooley Funeral Home, 107 Pleasant Street, North Sydney. Memorial donations may be made to a charity of choice. Online condolences may be sent to info@wjdooley.com.
"Let your indulgence set me free" - Epilogue, 'The Tempest'

Terrible Anniversaries

Man, what a day this has been. I've got the news on at the moment and have been reminded that this is the anniversary of two terrible events in Canadian history.

The Montreal Massacre happened on this day in 1989, when Marc Lepine killed fourteen women in an attempt to gain revenge on the 'feminists' who had allegedly 'ruined his life'. It's a day that is marked especially in universities, and I believe there's a memorial tonight down at our Engineering faculty - which is fitting.

It's also the 88th anniversary of the Halifax Explosion, which changed this city forever. Until it was eclipsed by the atomic blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was the largest man-made explosion in history.

*shakes head*

Montreal Update

In the interest of keeping my mind off of recent events, I'll tell you a bit about my weekend in Montreal, which was very good.

J. and I spent Saturday and yesterday doing some epic shopping. Got nearly everything I was looking for, including some clothes for work and some winter boots (the likes of which I have not worn - indeed, needed to wear - for a decade now). Christmas shopping now nearly complete.

Sunday was very eclectic. We went first for a magnificent brunch to the Mount Stephen Club, a beautiful, stately Victorian home downtown which is now a private club. Probably the best brunch I've ever had - we stayed almost three hours and sampled nearly everything the buffet had to offer, before having ourselves a little tour of the opulent premises. Then we went up the street to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, to see their current exhibition of paintings from Provence. Very very good, and it brought back memories of my holiday there last year - quite a few representations of landmarks such as the Fontaine de Vaucluse, and the Papal Palace in Avignon.

After that, we headed to a salon to be coiffed for the evening's event, before heading back to Jana's to get changed and made up. By 7.30, we were heading back downtown to the Bell Centre for the concert. The Bravery (who were the opening act) were due to play at 8 pm and we didn't want to miss that. They gave quite a good performance, and were pretty well-received by the crowd (it must be so hard to be the opening act at these things!). Then...J. and I headed to the sound booth where we were due to meet with The Bravery's tour manager. My friend C., who works in the music biz and who is mates with the band's manager, kindly made arrangements for us to meet the band, which was pretty freakin' cool. So we met up with 'Keith', who ushered us backstage (!). Quite surreal as neither of us had ever done the backstage thing before (very quiet and orderly back there). After hanging around for a little bit, we found ourselves in The Bravery's dressing room! Ack! A bit intimidating as we were the only fans there, and the band were obviously very tired, having just come off stage. But they were polite and chatted to us for a bit. J. and I took our leave after a couple minutes, though, as we didn't want to be intrusive. Totally surreal.

We went back out to our seats a few minutes before Depeche Mode took the stage. And what a show! I had never really been a huge DM fan in the 80s (though I did buy most of their albums - J. was probably a bigger fan than me), and lost touch with them completely in the 90s. But their latest album is pretty good, and as it turns out, they are amazing live! The set was like something out of a retro sci-fi film, with these consoles that looked like spaceships. To the left of the stage, there was a huge grey ball with slogans on it ('angel', 'sex', 'love', 'pain', 'enjoy') that lit up during different parts of the show. Rather odd at times, but far be it for me to question their artistic vision...J. christened it the 'Christmas Ball of Armageddon'. Heh.

Dave Gahan looked amazing - far better than a former heroin addict has any right to. He spent most of the show stripped to the waist and is quite...um...agile in his movements. Quite a revelation - who knew? I think J. had developed the hots for him by the end of the evening! And Martin Gore did not disappoint. He arrived on stage sporting a pair of small feathery black wings and what looked like a chicken's arse on his head. Sadly, the arse disappeared after the first few songs, but the wings remained.

The Bell Centre was packed out - 13,000 in attendance, apparently. And the crowd was insane. I've never seen anything like it. Sure, I've observed some hysteria at Duran Duran shows, but they always seem to have a considerable 'harassed boyfriend/husband' component, who stand around all evening with arms crossed, looking pained. Everyone at the Depeche show, by contrast, was totally into it. Dave Gahan had but to bat an eyelash, and the crowd would go apeshit. It was unbelieveable.


I've definitely developed a new appreciation for Depeche. Fantastic show.

Off to Montreal - Again

I'm away to Montreal way too early tomorrow morning - will be in the city by breakfast-time. This trip is a gift from J. and should be much fun, though less hectic than my last visit.

The weekend will mostly be about shopping, brunching, and art, and the centrepiece is a concert on Sunday evening by Depeche Mode, at the Bell Centre. It's been some years since I've paid that band much attention, but their new album is great and young whippersnappers The Bravery (whom I love) are opening for them. Watch this space...