Tag: canadiana

though I like whoever carved I LIKE FOOD into the Kamloops bus-station tree

The interior of BC is a funny place, a reclusive mix of unassailable nature speckled with tiny towns that call anywhere with a strip mall a city. The communities there aren’t like the spindrift of settlements that line the coasts, they’re far more stubbornly isolated. Trying to find a connection to the rest of the world proves difficult, and asking after the internet gets you Looks. I wonder at the youth of these places, why they stay, why so many don’t wish to escape. There’s so much planet to explore, and they could always come back later.

artpost: baby’s on fire

Ignite, a Puncture Vine CD Cover, painted by Canadian illustrator Robert Carter.

Other personal favourites include, Halo, Crack!, Sgt. Shakespeare, Unraveling Fire (boy), Inner Dialogue, and Black Gold Or Green Earth.

Prints and commissions are available through his website, Cracked Hat.
Found through Thefunnyweb.com, which has a nice collection of his work posted here.

next stop: hell (I’m planning to grayhound to Katie’s wedding in September)

CBC: Man stabs and decapitates sleeping passenger aboard Greyhound bus in Manitoba

“Garnet Caton, who was sitting in the seat in front of the victim, said he saw the attacker stab his seatmate, a young man sleeping with his headphones on. Caton said he heard a “blood-curdling scream” and turned around to see the attacker holding a large “Rambo” hunting knife above the victim, “continually stabbing him in the chest area.” “He must have stabbed him 50 times or 60 times,” said Caton.

CNN: “Everybody got off the bus. Me and a trucker that stopped and the Greyhound driver ran up to the door to maybe see if the guy was still alive or we could help or something like that,” Caton told CNN. “And when we all got up, we saw that the guy was cutting off the guy’s head. … When he saw us, he came back to the front of the bus, told the driver to shut the door. He pressed the button and the door shut, but it didn’t shut in time, and the guy was able to get his knife out and take a swipe at us,” Caton said.”

hang out with the governor general

The Governor General of Canada will be holding her sixth urban arts forum on January 24, 2008, in Vancouver. The event is part of a pan-Canadian initiative she is spearheading to highlight the ways in which urban artists are using their art – graffiti, slam, break, rap etc. – to combat youth crime and build stronger communities.

If you’re interested in taking part, here’s the blurb:

“We are interested in inviting spoken word artists and slam poets from the Vancouver region to attend the event which starts at 6:15 pm on the 24th. Would it be possible for you to recommend us approximately 20 youth from your networks to attend the event. I would require their names, emails, telephone numbers, and if possible their addresses, as soon as possible, so we can send them an invitation.

Sincerely,

Peter Flegel
Special Advisor, Youth
Office of the Governor General of Canada”

To contact him, e-mail PFlegel at GG dot ca.

found out I’m two degrees from the guy who made this lovely bit of Canadiana

“The future is bleak, scientists said.” Scientists to offer an “explosion of new data” on Global Warming.

Shane stayed over last week, a day or so after his show. We watched Pan’s Labyrinth and stayed up all night showing each other treasures we’d found on-line. It was a treat, it’s been years since we’ve managed to steal so much time together. There’s always meetings and day-jobs and a hundred other things that require priority. (I hooked him up with Uminthecoil Andrew for his next album cover. I want it to work out.)

He called Monday at midnight to remind me why I miss him. He told me that he’s put my portrait up in his Grandmother’s house. I hope she likes it.

Speaking of poets, apparently a poet did a successful background check on Kyle by knowing someone that knew me, so now he has a dessert date on Thursday. I’m not sure how that works, but the general gist I got from it was that being my friend is now a litmus test of poet date-ability. A wee bit ludicrous, but not an opinion I’m in any hurry to get rid of. It’s too classic. He accuses me of placing him within two degrees of everyone interesting in Vancouver.

Breathing Earth: a real-time simulation displaying the carbon dioxide emission levels of every country in the world, as well as their birth and death rates.

Country Mouse: Rent during reading break is a bottle of Caramel Baileys as Victoria is the closest city with any left in stock.