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Life in BC

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Bob!

Public Domain Image from Max PixelThis peaceful neck of the woods has recently been the scene of local elections and in the weeks running up to polling day – as it the way in these parts – verges, hedgerows and lawns slowly disappeared under a plethora of campaign signs and placards urging the local electorate to get out and vote.

In this day and age – and with times being what they are – it is hardly surprising that it is not always easy to encourage people to exercise their democratic right, no matter how important it might be for them so to do. I am certainly saying nothing against our local politicians – if for no other reason than that I lack the necessary knowledge of them – but on the wider scene the political classes have done so much damage to themselves in recent decades that it should be no surprise that the whole damned lot of them have become anathema (or an anathema – to your taste!).

Now – I cannot yet in any case vote in Canadian federal elections – I would needs be a citizen so to do – but I have a feeling that I could have voted in the recent local poll. That I did not do so is a sign that I am not yet sufficiently ‘au courant’ with the ins and outs of local politics, which is certain a failing on my part that I intend to rectify before the next such occasion.

One of the more prominent placards planted on the roadside not far from here, near to one of our bigger intersections (always a relative term of course) advocated the re-election of a man who apparently goes by the name of ‘Bob’ (that indeed being his name) whose surname I will not reveal (to protect the innocent!). Having dealt with the matter of the man’s name the sign simply read:

The only Bob on the Ballot!

Given the current febrile political climate in many parts of the globe it occurred to me that this might indeed be just as good a reason to vote for the man as anything else that might have been said.

It is not often that one gets a laugh from politics these days!

Go Bob!

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“Walking is man’s best medicine.”

Hippocrates

We live in such a blessed corner of this bosky peninsula that we are surrounded within a few miles on all sides by an abundance of places in which to walk – many of which we have not yet had time to explore. Both of these walks – enjoyed just the other day – are within a mile or so of our front door:

This is the small but beautiful park at Coles Bay – on the west side of the peninsula.

Feeling in need of more vigorous exercise than was afforded by Coles Bay Regional Park we went on to visit John Dean Provincial Park, which lies just above us here on our slope of the peninsula’s backbone. This park is extensive and we will have to take more time to explore it properly in the not too distant future. For now it offered us a much needed workout.

Being a local high point (in the sense of altitude if no other) the park houses a variety of mysterious installations:

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Smokin’!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidAs the year advances inexorably into the autumn (fall!) our social calendars fill pleasingly once again with a plethora of events and occasions. This seems to us to be something a pattern here on the island – though that is perhaps merely our perception thereof, informed by our circumstances and time of life. Or maybe it is that – after a riotous summer of be-sporting themselves in the wide open spaces – Victorians do actually turn within for a while to celebrate more sedentary pursuits.

Either way – one event that has become a regular fixture in our autumn diaries is the ‘THRIVE Malawi‘ fundraiser at the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. This annual concern seems to pop up at random points between September and November, but always promises a good night out in a great cause. We have twice enjoyed at this function performances by our favourite ‘New Orleans, West Coast brouhaha‘ band – the HiFi. This hugely popular but casual assemblage of local musical luminaries features what I have previously described as ‘an internationally reknowned boogie pianist appearing under a pseudonym for contractual reasons’.

This year – by way of a change – the organisers persuaded Vancouver based guitar maestro, Paul Pigat, to grace the stage. Paul plays in no less than four ensembles but this one – the Smoking Jackets – is a reunion with local Victoria musicians that showcases Mr Pigat’s jazz, bluegrass and rockabilly talents.

It is always reassuring to see Damian Graham’s name on the program. A regular in the HiFi (amongst other outfits) he is probably my favourite local drummer. ‘Gentleman’ Joey Smith is a legend on the upright bass and eighty one year old reedsman Al Pease gives a masterclass not only on the sax and clarinet, but also in how to still be cool and to be able to rock out well into one’s ninth decade. I particularly enjoyed the moment when Al – who had been seated stage right throughout – remained in situ after the band left the stage at the end, knowing full well that an encore would be in order and not wishing to expend further unnecessary energy. Kudos!

Though the Smoking Jackets had been billed as a four-piece we could not help noticing as we took our seats that a grand piano was prominent stage left. Sure enough the ‘reknowned boogie pianist‘ had agreed to sit in for the evening, thus enabling us to enjoy his particular talents again as well.

An illustration of just how much fun these amazing musicians were having playing together came during the final number – an extended rendition of ‘Sunny Side of the Street‘ – when the band morphed seamlessly and unexpectedly into a couple of verses of Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke on the Water‘ before slipping effortlessly back into the original.

When the band are having that much fun it would be churlish not to join in!

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Fringe report

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidI promised but a few posts back to report on our discoveries and experiences at this year’s Victoria Fringe. What with the new term starting and suchlike I am all too aware that I have not thus far kept my word.

Time to rectify!

In the course of the eleven day festival we saw six shows. Wearing my Fringe Ambassador hat I ‘schmoozed’ the queues for those and another seven shows. I spent an afternoon manning the cardboard castle at the Fringe Kids event and also an evening selling fifty50 tickets at the Fringe Preview night.

I feel very sure, however, that the gentle reader is really only interested (if interested at all) in matters theatrical, so – of the six shows that we attended – these were our highlights:

The Wonderheads mask show – ‘The Wilds‘ was by turns amusing and thought provoking. Mask theatre is not for everyone but for those for whom it works it is revelatory, inviting us to consider anew just how we express – or hide – our thoughts and feelings. The Wonderheads remind me a little of Trestle Theatre in London, though perhaps a little less dark (than Trestle used to be!).

Our personal ‘Funniest Show’ award was this year split between two contenders:

Paco Erhard’s ‘Five Step Guide to Being German‘ was a complete hoot and has deservedly been selling out just about everywhere it has toured around the world. It was not spoiled for me in the least by my becoming – having been unkindly pointed out to Paco by my lovely wife as being ‘a Brit‘ – the butt of many of the jokes throughout the evening. I had a chat with Paco afterwards and he is a genuinely nice guy and actually something of an Anglophile.

Stiff competition in the humour stakes was provided by the hilarious retelling at Langham Court of ‘The War of 1812‘, by Mike Delamont, Morgan Cranny, Wes Borg and Rod Peter Jr. Given the strength of this cast of local comedic luminaries it will come as no surprise that they jointly hit it out of the park!

The most gripping performance that we saw this year was given by Anishinaabe writer and performer Josh Languedoc, with ‘Rocko and Nakota: Tales from the Land‘. Playing multiple characters with astonishing commitment and energy this telling of Anishinaabe tales had us entranced and captivated.

By all accounts this year’s Fringe was a great success. Congratulations to Intrepid Theatre and to all those intrepid performers who participated.

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Dedication

“We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”

Jesse Owens

There came a moment – on a Thursday evening at the start of September, just as Elder John Elliott commenced his dedication of the new performance stage in Pioneer Park at Brentwood Bay by the intonation of an appropriate First Nations’ song  – when the skies were suddenly filled with an answering and clarion call. A dozen or more skeins of Canada Geese added their own celebration to the occasion by performing a dramatic and noisy fly-past.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidAs mentioned previously in these postings this wonderful new stage has already been in use throughout the summer for the regular Wednesday evening Music in the Park sessions. The official opening and dedication was held over until the end of the season so that the stage could be completed; the final touch being the addition of a wonderful aluminium freeze at the back of the stage by talented local Coast Salish artist, Chris Paul.

The event was marked by a performance from the ever popular Dustin Bentall and his partner Kendel Carson – with a special guest appearance from none other than the wonderful Barney Bentall himself. Now – I do have to admit to being just a little bit in love with Ms Carson. Not only is she cute as a button but she oozes instinctive musicality. She deploys her wonderfully soaring voice to good effect all the whilst contriving to make her fiddle sound like full string section all on her own.

What a splendid evening to round off a great season – and what better way to thank all of those involved in the Brentwood Bay Commmunity Association – as well as those who donated money, materials, time and labour – for bringing this spectacular project to such a successful conclusion.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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To fall and fall

“The rain began again. It fell heavily, easily, with no meaning or intention but the fulfillment of its own nature, which was to fall and fall.”

Helen Garner

There is something to be said for living in a land with a reliable climate (though I naturally make an exception for those parts of the UK that are oppressed mercilessly by lowering clouds throughout the drudgery of the winter months).

It is interesting to contrast the climates of London and Victoria. Wikipedia reveals the following:

  • London has some 1633 hours of sunshine per annum.
  • Victoria has some 2193 hours of sunshine per annum.
  • London averages 602 mm of rain per annum.
  • Victoria averages 608 mm of rain per annum.

Though rainfall figures are not dissimilar and average monthly temperatures are within a degree of each other (though London’s slightly warmer weather often feels muggy as a result of the humidity), Victoria’s extra five hundred or so hours of sunshine a year clearly make a difference. Though there are times during the Victorian spring when one wonders if the rain will ever stop – cease it invariably does, giving way reliably to glorious mild, sunny and dry summer months.

Sometimes too dry!

Then – toward the end of the season and just as it seems that the drought has set in permanently and the garden sprinklers are on the verge of giving up the unequal struggle to maintain life in the yard – the weather will break and verdancy is restored.

Sometimes this happens with a bang rather than a whimper:

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid…but sometimes equally the end result is the most incandescent of rainbows:

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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“When I forget how talented God is, I look to the sea.”

Whoopi Goldberg

Time for some pictures!

A few weeks back – on my way to the Pride festival in James Bay – I parked on the seafront near Ogden Point overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was impossible not to be overwhelmed in by the breathless beauty of the sea on that particular morning. As an ever evolving sky created a constantly changing vista I snapped these studies on my cell phone. Unable to choose between them I offer the gentle reader a pallet from which to make your own choice. As ever, double-clicking will reveal the full effect:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

 

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I have written on previous occasions (most recently at around this time last year) of the free summer music concerts most diligently and generously organised by the Brentwood Bay Community Association at Pioneer Park in Brentwood Bay. These fabulous free Wednesday evening shows run throughout July and August each year and really brighten up the mid-week, in addition to exposing us to local talent and to new (to us!) acts that we might not otherwise get to see and hear.

This year’s concerts licked off last week with Coldwater Road and continued this with the most excellent Daniel Cook and the Radiators (blessed with a really solid rhythm section) who gave us a great evening. Full details of the program and links to the bands’ sites can be found on the BBCA website.

The big news for 2018 (as trailed heavily in the post of last year mentioned above) is the advent of the beautiful new stage. This has been built over the winter entirely by volunteers from funds raised by the community association. The result is absolutely splendid. The opportunity was taken to re-orient the park with regard to music use and the new stage is in a much better position. Before and after pictures below…

Kudos indeed to the BBCA!

Spot the difference – 2017:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidSpot the difference – 2018:

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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By dint of an extraordinarily poor piece of planning on my part our trip to Montreal this May coincided exactly with the greater part of the first Intrepid Theatre festival of the year – UNO Fest. As a result, out of the ten day program of solo performances we were only able to see two shows – one at the very start of the festival and one at the end.

Much humble pie has been eaten for this faux pas and I have to report that of the many cuisines that I have enjoyed over the decades this hugely overrated dish will not be making my top ten anytime soon!

We were most happy, however, to have been able to see the wonderful Margaret McAuliffe in the Fishamble production – “The Humours of Brandon“. Mags is from Dublin and spins the tale of her attempt to become Irish Dancing’s open champion with exactly the kind of brio that one associates with her race.

The second festival of the year – OutStages – is considerably shorter, taking place over six days toward the end of June. Once again we saw two shows: this time they were both wonderful!

Up first was a rare appearance by the divine Queer Songbook Orchestra from Toronto in a show entitled “Songs of Resilience“. The conceit of the work is in the choices of popular songs made by members of the LGBTQ community and the frequently dramatic stories behind those choices. The show features guest narrators who read these submissions, to be followed by the twelve piece orchestra’s often startling re-interpretation of what might well be a familiar piece. The effect – engendered in no small degree by the excellence of the arrangements, of the musicianship and of the stunning vocal performances – is really most remarkably moving. I was not alone in wondering how nearly two and a half hours passed in a flash, leaving us wanting much, much more.

More concerning the QSO – including full recordings of their wonderful music – can be found on their website.

OutStages was closed by Peale Harbour’s extraordinary “Chautauqua“. Pearle is a drag queen also from Toronto (the creation of Justin Miller), and the show may best be summed up in words from her own publicity:

“Chautauqua is an immersive extravaganza: part cabaret, part tragicomedy, part Tent Revival. There’s music, sing-a-longs, puppet shows and even an exorcism! The world may be falling apart, but Pearle will show you that there’s more that unites us than divides us.”

From the moment that we were ushered into Pearle’s tent – ‘pitched’ on the stage of the Metro Studio – and directed to sit in pre-ordained places on backless benches, it was clear that this was going to be an unusual experience. That it was as memorable as it proved to be was in great part down to Pearle’s extraordinary stage presence. As Jennifer Enchin reported on “Mooney on Theatre”:

“She promised us that by the end of the night, we will be rid of all of our pain and sorrows. I’ll tell you one thing, with stage presence like that — I would believe pretty much anything this woman told me.”

More information, as ever, here:

Many thanks once again to Intrepid Theatre – and in particular to Executive Director Heather Lindsay and to Marketing and Development Manager Sean Guist who curated UNO Fest and OutStages respectively – for bringing such amazing talent to Victoria and for making us so very happy to be living here.

Ta muchly!

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Photo: Myrabella / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0Way back in the dim and distant… (before, even, the Kickass Canada Girl and I had landed upon these verdant shores) I posted an item to this blog entitled ‘A Sense of Place‘. Should you care to refresh your memory (hah!) of that inestimable entry you will (re)discover that it included a description of how I came to learn of the wonderful works of Kwakwaka’wakw carver and First Nation chief – Beau Dick.

The piece included a link to a YouTube clip which contained a trailer for an as yet unfinished documentary on Beau Dick which was at that point still in the process of creation by Vancouver gallery owner – LaTiesha Fazakas – and her  co-director – Natalia Tudge. I contacted them by email to enquire as to when the film might be completed and was advised that they were hoping so to do later that same year.

That was in January 2015!

The next reference within these pages to Beau was a less happy one, on the occasion of his sad and untimely death in March last year. This was widely reported at the time and  many who were not previously aware of his work and achievements may well have been enlightened as a result of that unhappy event.

Finally, late last year I received notice that the documentary had at last been completed and was to be shown in the Vancouver International Film Festival. There were also to be other screenings – in Vancouver and elsewhere – but none that I could readily attend. Then – in the spring of this year – I learned that the documentary was to be released on DVD. Hoorah! When we were in Vancouver last month – on the occasion of the Paul Simon concert to which I have made previous reference – I found my way to the Fazakas Gallery and purchased a copy.

You might well grumble at this point that – even should you be interested – this does not help you very much. This is true. However, last night the documentary was also aired on CBC. Again – my apologies for not having given prior notice of this within these meanderings. I had heard that it was to be aired but not when. I only discovered yesterday that that was indeed to be the day.

The documentary can be found – however – here on the CBC website.  Now – I can stream it thence but I’m afraid I have no idea if it will work abroad, or how long it will be available there. Give it a go and let me know.

Needless to say it is well worth viewing. Beautifully crafted and most evocative – not to mention thought-provoking.

 

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