July 26, 2011
In search of an obscure supplement I went to Kerrisdale today, a place I’ve never been before, aside from teaching in a school in that general area and visiting a friend who lives on the outskirts, I’ve only visited that area of shops there in novels. In reality it reminded me somewhat of border towns in Washington. I managed to get quite lost and was surprised by the volume of traffic and a sign outside one shop announcing the arrival of a green pan. The other thing that perturbed me was the sale of processed marrowfat peas in a tin! Imported of course from England. Wha? Who would seriously shell out $2.49 for tinned, processed, marrowfat peas. I discovered the tinned peas because I’d entered a place that promised “British products” in search of a packet of Jaffa Cakes because my beloved son has become fixated on them due to a podcast he listens to that references them and I’d promised to reveal what they are.
On the shelf were a number of astonishingly expensive teabags ($12 for 80 $9.00 for 40), a bottle of Schweppes Bitter Lemon (er?), tins of treacle, and other unremarkables. The tin of marrowfat peas almost knocked me over. Not least since the best local shelling peas are delicious and in season all over the place. Tea, chocolate I understand but a bottle of Bitter Lemon and a tin of Marrowfat peas …. and what? Lie back and think of England?
On a more remarkable note, there is still a camera shop in Kerrisdale.
On the way home I passed a billboard outside BC Women’s Hospital that read Canada’s Leading Maternity Hospital. Are they recruiting pregnant women to fly in and give birth from other parts of the country? It’s a v odd billboard. What’s the criteria for being Canada’s Leading Maternity Hospital exactly versus any other maternity hospital? And who is it exactly they’re advertising this to? Is it designed to reassure women arriving to give birth … and by this token does the most regressive hospital in the country also have a billboard?
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Certain news events & stories in the last week had me pondering conscience and what of the make up and brains of humans who don’t have one? The rate of sociopaths in the US was quoted at 4 per cent and I can’t imagine it’s that different here. It was v interesting reading descriptions of people with a complete absence of conscience in relation to their behaviour. The advice however was to have absolutely nothing to with a person who matches the description of a sociopath. I wondered about the resultant isolation of that person and how that exacerbates and furthers enables them to carry on mindlessly. But the experts were absolutely clear. Avoid, avoid, avoid at all costs is their advice.
July 25, 2011
Today I was thinking of how Georges Bataille might reinvent the book review or longer critical essay, integrating new technologies, were he still about and spent some time hunting an edition of Documents from 1929, available entirely on this wonderful National Library of France site.
I drew a blank on my first question, but certainly enjoyed the reading and that interface. (Configure it to full screen scrolling and read it like an ipad book lifting the corner of each page as you wish and zooming in on the particulars).
I also finally after a concerted battle, hitherto recorded on this blog, nabbed the polygamous slug sect leader who has been populating my small community garden plot with the 250 baby slugs I’ve removed by hand. As you can see he/she’s also gourged on my entire planting of beans. Look at the audacious lounge of him …. I was unable to establish whether Apophallation had taken place because I was beset with imminent salty euphoria.
July 24, 2011
Buried Treasure, resurrected, rerecorded, remixed
Look what I stumbled across today … also includes an interactive game.
eight randomly numbered pages, the text of Jorge Luis Borges’ story The Book of Sand (as translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni), with pictures and animations based on old engravings and photographs. It is, I hope, an intriguing presentation of one of Borges’ lesser-known works. But it also offers a unique opportunity for readers to interact with the story.
July 21, 2011
The most reliable weather report is the insomniac’s one: at 3.14am it is/was raining.
It was plunging auditory variety of rain. The rattle on the cottage roof quality to it. With a noticeable lack of any wind, yet a certain fresh and invigorating quality, as anyone who left the window open to go to sleep would note.
All those who forgot to water the garden today can sleep peacefully and at ease.
July 18, 2011
At the risk of creating uproar I have been enjoying the weather that has the city so sunken in the glooms. There are several reasons for this, firstly everyone is discussing it and noticing it and I’m a firm advocate for paying attention to the weather. (& mortality, unfortunately no one is discussing that) There’s plenty to notice about it.
I’ve observed that the rain, being the intermittent variety, means it’s perfectly feasible to work in the garden and have managed to do some excavating of my booming strawberry patch. However, I’ve also been engaged in the close scrutiny and spying and entrapment by my two not so fat fingers of the burgeoning slug increase. Ha! I’m onto these fellas finally. I’m getting crafty with them and scooping them out to a salty finale.
Second reason I’ve been enjoying the weather is how it reminds me of November and winter. I also appreciate the audacity of it that it will do what it wishes and that the population demands what has come before, what they know to be summer and for the latter few days it’s on its own drive and direction.
The third reason I’ve been enjoying it is the terrible news stories that are being written around it that contain the most unimaginative language and invocations. It’s a firm reminder that the weather is linguistically unchartered territory except for the brief literature we have and Gerry Gilbert’s weathery poems come to mind. I must resurrect the literary weather forecasts and make some more.
The weather has in fact been good clothes drying weather if you are attempting to dry them on an apartment balcony. Friday was a faceful of fresh blustery wind that reminded me of the most blustery spot on the planet, which I am deeply familiar with. But if you can isolate these single elements within the weather system it will enhance your neurological weather noticing and then when those very blue skies come, which they have done this summer, well ditto you notice them.
July 16, 2011
A footnote on the aforemention three brothers house with the former hatchy looking garden I used to so delight in. Passed it again the other soiree and noted that the new lottery looking house, with the overindulgence in gravel in the front garden, also wrapped the entire place in a tall fence so you can actually see nowt whatsoever of the back garden.
What an odd conclusion to a home whose garden was, for so many years (if not generations?) a place to feast one’s eyes on. I can recall small children standing there pointing at the objects poking up out of it, foaming with begonias instead of bathwater.
Does wealth really need to be this unimaginative?! I wonder what the patterns are on fencing and whether as house prices have soared there is any difference in the height of fences people border their properties with? It would be great to examine and record how gardens have changed in relation to other historical changes in the city. My friend Lori Weidenhammer recently did some workshops around garden memories and bookmaking. Blogs are also forming excellent records and documentation in this area.