It’s one of my Dad’s favourite stories to tell. CBC Radio 1 was on in his kitchen (and living room and bedroom) on Mother’s Day back when Sam Robert’s “Brother Down” had made him as a household name in Canada, and our beloved national station was hosting a show for moms to call-in and request the songs of their children. And Sam Roberts’ mom called. My dad was overcome with patriotic pride at this event.
“Can you imagine this happening in the States?” he asked me rhetorically. Continue reading
May 10th this year was the 8th day of the 4th month in the Chinese calendar: the birthday of Siddhartha. It is a holiday in South Korea where I spent a year absorbing Korean culture into my identity, so I decided to honour the holiday by performing 108 bows to Buddha, refraining from killing anything (even bugs), eating completely vegetarian meals, and eating every last grain of rice from those meals. I had hoped for a sunny day so that I could go to a park and bow in front of the small statue of Buddha I keep on my desk, but I live in Halifax. So it rained.
A quick Google search led me to the Shambhala Temple where the bemused secretary (after telling me about the temple’s free meditation lessons) said that I could use the Buddha in the lobby if I wanted. They did not have a full statue (and I did not expect them to), so I began in the lobby, thumping my knees into the linoleum floor until the next secretary on a shift change suggested that I use one of the shrine rooms. She told me that I could light candles and incense and close the door. It was all mine. Continue reading
The Grammy Awards are over, but here are my final notes on albums and songs from 2010 that I failed to write about during the year itself. Take heed of my warnings. Heed I say!
One Sentence Reviews of Other Albums from 2010
Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor (March)
It’s an ambitious concept album (inspired by the American Civil War), but the lead singer’s complete inability to carry a tune has dropped them from my playlists. “Theme from ‘Cheers’”
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Janelle Monáe’s The ArchAndroid (May)
You should own this stellar album, and go see her equally magical live show if you have the chance Continue reading
In the frozen wastes of bookish learning where snow-ploughs pile the daily drifts of stress in front of the student’s door and make him quite forget that he should be enjoying his paid prison of scholarly solitude, a delivery arrives. A long, narrow box with a florist’s seal. He knows what it is – he’s no idiot afterall – and delights. But then rechecks his name on the address label, just to be sure they are his. No one has had flowers delivered to him before.
They are indeed for him, and he immediately forgets all the articles he has been reading about poetry and instead, for a moment, lets his memory tumble through lines of floral images from the poems themselves. He forgets to even smell the flowers as he searches for a vase – so strong is the scent of synesthesia of the poems enscribed in his mind – but he doesn’t own a vase. No one has had flowers delivered to him before. So he puts them in his tallest beer glass. And (until the flowers wilt and die) drinks his beer from the bottle.
In honour of Remembrance Day, I have decided to come out of my scholarly shell of solitude to share my yearly ritual of condemning the idiocy of war. I do not mourn specific people or even mull on specific conflicts. Instead, I listen to the following songs and cry. I cry for every soldier who died for a cause, because there should be no reason for that to ever happen. If people worldwide would stop being fuckwits who start conflicts that necessitate violent opposition, then there would be no need for violent opposition. This is not going to happen. Someone will always take advantage of the “weaknesses” (like compassion, pacifism, peace, and love) of others. I consider myself an existential humanist and desperately want to love humanity, but humanity rarely deserves my love. Yes, there are always examples of the good that give me hope, but they should be the norm rather than the exception.
I do not ask anyone to follow me in my private ritual (although the Youtube videos are below if you’re interested), but I do propose this challenge to everyone who stumbles upon this post: consciously go out of your way to do something good for someone everyday for the rest of November. Every single day. Hold a door, buy a classmate coffee, find a cause to support, give more compliments than you normally would, spread a positive attitude. Make that poppy you wear a constant reminder to spread kindness—kindness that, were it universal, would have made it unnecessary for that flower to become a symbol of mourning for the dead of war. These little deeds are not going to change the whole world, but they’ll change yours.
Playlist for 11:00 a.m. November 11th
“A Pittance of Time” – Terry Kelly
“Universal Soldier” – Buffy Sainte-Marie
write with lightning 