LOS ANGELES in October

In Los Angeles there was beautiful Stephanie. And 84 degrees. And a collision of east and west, of the barren and the beautiful, the most extraordinary flora, the most stunning views - the colours, blue, sand, beige, rust - I tried, but I couldn't even begin to capture images which would truly recreate the spirit.

Here is what I have.

The Pacific Coast Highway - to Santa Barbara

The streets are lined with trees.... Santa Monica and Rodeo Drive

Speaking of trees, I could hardly believe this one, the stuff of dream --or nightmare. It took us two days to identify it, as a Ficus.

Some famous names and places:

Some hand- and foot- prints of Hollywood stars in the courtyard of Mann's Chinese Theatre. Jack Nicholson has BIG hands!

In Venice, there are canals, and every expensive home here has a little garden filled with exotic flowers and palm trees, or pink parasols and flamingoes, and a boat on the water.

VANCOUVER

Look who I saw in Vancouver in November!
The beginning of the rain...

Hamza Adam, Chris Cochrane, Duane Keogh and Levon Henderson

And lovely Marjorie Malpass

Dear Lucas and Liz and their Lovely Home

Beautiful Becca

and her graceful, strong and fluid Tai Chi/ Qi Gong/ Kung Fu

And my far-away, beloved family: Ileana, Jason, Erika, Esme, Elias, Rebecca

Vancouver was full of warmth and joy, memories and love, comfort and hugs. Everybody needed another visit...

The mountains, the ocean and Stanley Park, the Lion's Gate Bridge, City Hall, and Granville Island, North Vancouver, Hastings and Main, the Buddhist Centre, Banyen Book Store, the salmon stream, the tea rooms, the living rooms, the pubs, the beaches, the three-legged dog on the beach, the comedy, my Becca, everything glowed or glittered, everyone shone, pouring rain, soft rain or no rain.

It was wonderful to see you all, oh RICH Vancouver, Lady of the Grey Light!
Lots of love.

October 20, 2006

OTTAWA VOTES, JESSE'S PLAY, ANNA's BABY, CAROL and JAN



OTTAWA VOTES
Choices : O’Brien, Chiarelli, Munter. Who will you vote for? ( Ok, "whom" is correct.)

For Mayor - NOT O’Brien. Please. Not millionaire, pesticide-approving O’Brien. Look what he said: Sure, lawn pesticides are ok - in fact I would reinstate their use in parks and playing fields.

REALLY?????????????

Ok, so you’re not out there playing in the grass, ending up face down on the pesticide-laden field. But maybe a neighbour is. Maybe you are sitting on that grass with your girl friend, maybe you are babysitting, or watching YOUR babies run around, and get rosy cheeks - and fall, and take big deep breaths of PESTICIDE-LADEN AIR into their lungs…

Maybe your parents are breathing huge doses of pesticides spread by lawn-care addicts, oblivious to human health. Maybe it’s a hot, muggy day, and the pesticides are killing the slugs and white grubs…and steaming up into the air… maybe you are running or playing on the grass and breathing them in.

We want our mayor and council to be AWARE and RESPONSIBLE.
How can anyone today be so oblivious to the real cancer concerns of these pesticides that they even SAY pesticides are all right, even if they actually believe it?

REPORT CARD FOR CITY COUNCIL

And get this: a report card for Ottawa's city council, from our environmental groups. TEN councillors get an F. Even on a bell curve with a passing grade of 30%! Ten out of nineteen FAIL. www.ottawaenvironmentalvotes.org

EIGHT of them get F MINUS. Two receive a grade of F.

Please vote. Please make this report count. Please change things.

Here are the names and grades:


F Minus
These councillors never- even ONCE - voted for any environmental measure:
Say goodbye:
Jan Harder, Gord Hunter, Shawn Little, Doug Thompson, Rick Chiarelli, Glenn Brooks, Rob Jellett, Eli-El-Chantiry.

F
They almost never voted for the environment, but were real hindrances instead:
Say goodbye:
PETER HUME ( He HEADS Ottawa’s planning and environment committee! How scary is that!)
Maria McRae.

D
Rainer Bloess. Diane Deans and our current mayor, Bob Chiarelli

C
Michel Bellemare ( C -) Georges Bedard and Peggy Feltmate.

B
Janet Stavinga. Jacques Legendre. ( B+)

A
Clive Doucet. Diane Holmes

A +
Alex Cullen.


Please vote. Make a decision based on real factors. Make the environment one of them. Vote.


JESSE GRIFFITHS

was amazing! Warm and joyful and comfortable, human and convincingly REAL, he invited us into his world. I wouldn’t have missed Ryerson’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle for anything. It was superb. It was tight, funny, engaging every minute, thoroughly inventive, finely detailed and absorbing. The ensemble playing was just excellent. Not a beat missed, and every moment was carefully honed, much even enchanting. And BIG! Jesse and Simon Rainville both performed in the play. Simon’s Old Man was wonderful, and Jesse and Simon SANG together for us! On key and everything! Such a treat!

Jesse had a huge part. He was the judge, Azdak, and he was warm and huge, ( I know you know what I mean), commanding the stage and every moment of my attention. He was physical and funny, wise and wryly solemn. ( He was the Jesse I knew so well.) If you haven’t read what Toronto’s entertainment paper, Now, says about Jesse in this show, here it is:

Jesse Griffiths who dominates the second half... knows how to beguile performers with an outrageous performance and a twinkle in his eye....Griffith's appearance with his wonderful audience rapport moves the piece into high gear.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-10-12/stage_scenes.php


The production was strongly directed, disciplined, controlled, smooth and seemingly simple ( my favourite dictum: ars est celare artem.) It was also physical, balanced, and visual. And beautifully musical. And funny. What a fine job those Ryerson students did. My friend couldn’t remember when she had ever enjoyed a play as much. That’s fine praise! I loved it. We had gone to the matinee because there were no tickets for evening shows, and I would have gone again if I could.

After the show I talked to Simon, who looked great, and was happy, and then was gone so fast! We ran after him to get a photo for this blog, but he was off, into the wet windy afternoon. Jesse was mobbed in the hall, but he finally reached us. I had gasped in the play when he had been slammed on the side of the head with a briefcase, and now the evidence was on his face.
I hated to leave him, the time in his company on stage had been intimate and warm, just as if he were here, practising and laughing in my living room. I loved his performance, and Jesse too. I was reminded of how very much I miss my team. : ( Every day.



ANNA AND GRACIE

I was aching to see Anna and her new baby.

Anna’s baby, Grace, is absolutely beautiful, calm and gorgeous, a darling like her mama, and Anna let me hold her! Her tiny socks were too big!
Anna looked terrific, calm and healed. Altogether well. She says life with Grace is easy. I feel at ease too, now. Anna sent me some photos and is allowing me to share.

CAROL AND JAN


My friend, beautiful Carol, and I have been friends since we were in high school together, sharing clothes and classes, laughter and secrets. Carol and Jan spoiled me in their luxurious and elegant condo, and looked after me every moment during my visit to Toronto. We saw two movies, including The Queen ( great performances), rode the subway, buses, escalators, elevators ( I did it!), shopped, went to wonderful Indian and Italian restaurants,(mmm), and talked. (lots. Secrets.)

Next week I am leaving for a week in Los Angeles and then a week in Vancouver. So exciting, a birthday gift from Stephanie and Glenn.
I am coming home in time to see Gordon Lightfoot at the National Arts Centre.

(I think I am starting to figure out how to retire!!)

BARRYMORE'S AND TYLEY ROSS and the EAST VILLAGE OPERA COMPANY


God Himself must have been rocking out at Barrymore's on Tuesday night after Thanksgiving, thinking, ( when He could think), Look What I have Wrought. Yea, Me.

That's why the earth was shaking and the air was filled with the dusty light of Reverberation and the sound was careening off the ceiling.
That's why the white and blue cones of light were swirling through the darkness, and Tyley's face gleamed porcelain and holy as he surfed the stratosphere with an energy that fused the very room.
That's why people felt their hearts exult, expand, and talked about "the music of their soul." Rocking, clapping, stomping, hooting, crying.

Oh, you missed something Tuesday night, if you weren't there.

We were excited to meet, Marjorie Malpass and I, at Barrymore’s, to see Tyley. And each other! It had been months since she was home for The Number 14.
The East Village Opera was going to be on stage at 8, or so the Ticket Master said - ah Ticket Master! Were your fingers crossed?
But how wonderful to be walking to the club at 7:30, and to see Andrew Dillon heading to the same show! No sooner had we got to the door than I felt warm arms - Dennis Van Staalduinen was there! It looked like another Canterbury homecoming! Soon the line stretched down the street. Now we couldn’t even buy tickets until 8 pm!

Marjory arrived, sophisticated and lovely, strong and well, making my heart smile. Inside, she found us seats for 7 near the sound booth, cannily knowing this was THE place to be. She was right! Serendipitous! Before the show, Tyley appeared there to talk to the sound man. There was just time for " hi"s and hugs, time to say I love you.
Tyley said that right after the show the band had to pack and head back to New York to catch their flight to Mexico, earlier than planned. Someone had made a mistake between 'a.m.' and ‘p.m’. Groan.

And then, there they were, on stage – ten of them. Gorgeous, superb. Giving.
Canada’s pride… (although the instrumentalists were from Australia, New Zealand, Japan and New York, as well as Canada.)

Generous is the word. The band was filled with energy, bounding joy and togetherness, their sensuality shook, the beautiful melodies twined with the primal agonies of rock. They played as if they could play like this forever. Violins swirled, the cello groaned, the guitars shrieked with magic and sensuality, Peter ached, danced calisthenics on the keyboard, as he led the mix. Victoria's sensuality, generosity and power met Tyley's. The sound was smashing, awesome ( in its true sense).
My heart crumbled, my ears were stunned. The instruments and Tyley’s voice burst the cavernous interior of Barrymore’s, the very stones echoing, the ceiling fans frantic and off-kilter, and always the music climbed to almost unendurable heights.

Tyley’s voice is one of the Great Gifts of the World. Like Niagara Falls, he is Terribly Beautiful.

The audience was insatiable.
We were given two orgasmic hours of mind-swelling, hearts-can’t-breathe walls of sound… omigod! With climax after climax the band took us with them on Peter Kiesewalter's dream- journeys, through Tyley's passion.

We loved them well.

God speed, EVOC, as you set Mexico on fire.

I heard that Maureen Welch was there too, and the newly-married Bob Donatucci. Chris Neale was there. Yea, CHS! ( Stephie, I missed you.)

BILL SOUROUR

Such fun to see Bill Sourour ( Sparks) last week. He took me to dinner. "Choose a nice place you like, " he said. That's pretty sweet! I persuaded him to try the mango- coconut ice cream, but, no matter what, I couldn’t get him to disturb the happy face carefully created in the sauce! Bill is such a softie. He is working hard on government computer contracts… in technical work, Bill is an ace, flying through the keys, the Red Baron of the computer. He taught me some tricks for my blog! Thanks, Bill.

Bill has several very neat blogs of his own— one just for interesting videos and poems and jokes etc., and one for his photographs, mostly taken in Paris and the Dominican Republic. Here are their addresses: http://myspace.com/billsparks, and http://billsparks.deviantart.com/
And Kurt Smeaton and sweet Jamie Dee Franklin are up there too, on myspace.com; Bill showed me their sites.

If you see the slide show here, thank Bill who showed me how to do it. If you don't see it yet, blame Bill--no, ME! Untechnical ME! And check back!

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

CHRISTIE AT CLUB SAW

I went to Christie Watson's night of one acts at Club Saw. We really enjoyed Christie’s piece, which was very unconventional, and used Christie, Katie as a VERY active techie, an overhead projector, and water, light and swirling colour in the water – not to mention a conch shell, a man in a black hood and a praying mantis. The piece was inventive and also supremely funny.

The atmosphere was warm and artsy, there was wine and tea, and, wouldn’t you know, Barry Karp and CHS students in the audience! Christie’s philosophy/aesthetic sees him opening up technology to make it a visible participant in theatre. Christie is very busy, with a show for the NAC coming up after Christmas, teaching at OSSD and working for GCTC full-time.

The other play at Club Saw was excellent too- an actor from Kingston and a writer/artistic director from there too. Super acting and a tight script. The audience was very enthusiastic about both plays.
It was fun walking through the rooms and getting lost in the gallery (there were many people painting walls which all seemed to blend into each other.)

BOFA BABES, AND MORE!
AhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhIloveyoualllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

I saw Levon Henderson and Adam Denault this summer, and Brian Frommer came up from Kingston to visit for a day. Jehan Khoorshed was over for a day last week. Jessica Besser- Rosenberg and Neil Smith visited. Sheri Segal and I went to some movies together. Steve Fisher was by. David Nugent took me out to dinner. I saw Marjorie Malpass in her phenomenal The Number 14 this spring, and later she came for dinner. I saw Matthew Edison at the NAC, and then he spent a day with me. Robin Toller, Andrew Dillon and Trisha Allison visited together.

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

And I saw Cari Leslie at the SIC show. Also Chelsea O’Connor, Greg Cochrane and Jordan Foster at the Fringe in Ottawa, and after their play at Arts Court. And now, Bill Sourour.
I visited with Yovanka McBean, Tyler Westerlund and Jesse Griffiths in Toronto. And I worked with Debbie Grinnell, Mike Milligan, and Duncan Valliant-Saunders, and saw Teri Loretto!
And also Chris Fraser, Anna Humphrey and David Deveau, from Lit.

And wow – from Laurentian and the Laurentian Arts Guild, from 1978, I saw at different times, Becky Brown and Sheila Theoret, David McCue, Brian Sutherland and Ken Bartlett! And Greg Nelson! And Hank Bartlett... I just can’t believe how everyone looks the same in their 40’s as they did at 17 ~almost everyone, anyway~

Get Your Own! | View Slideshow

I heard from Neil Herland, and today, October 11, all I hear on CBC Radio IS Neil, reporting from New York.

I am looking forward to seeing Marjorie, Yovanka and Neil again this week. And Sheri. Yovanka has cut off all her hair she says, and I am dying to see that!

I miss you all, I truly do. Thank you. You have made my life so rich.

AFGHANADA

BTW, Greg's radio play series about Canadian troops in Afghanistan is coming to CBC Radio in November. It should be super. In fact, the CBC has asked them to write more in the series. Yea!


HEADLINE, CBC News, OCTOBER 9

2 in Toronto Paralyzed after drinking toxic carrot juice


Please--don't drink carrot juice! ( Rebecca, are you listening?) Read about the lettuce, the carrot juice and the spinach-caused Botulism/ecoli scares:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/10/09/botulism.html

It was unfathomable, frightening to me, to hear Steph say over the phone, from LA, "what about spinach? Oh, guess I won't buy it then."

Here I am writing about it, and she is in California, the source of the e-coli that we have heard about so far, NOT KNOWING. And she LOVES baby spinach salad. Man. People are dying, paralyzed.

DANGEROUS FRUIT and VEGETABLES
Is nothing sacred?

Did you hear, see the news this week, about Canada's vegetables and fruit inspections? No?

Canada's inspectors find 10% of fruit and vegetables unsuitable because of too much poison, too much pesticide residue. The United States find 76% and the UK 40%.
What accounts for the difference? Is Canada better, squeaky clean?

No! Canada is LAX. And Canadian inspectors look for only a fraction of the number of pesticides that the more advanced world looks for.

Sept 21


MISS WITHERSPOON
Another play!

I REALLY enjoyed Miss Witherspoon, starring Teri Loretto, CHS theatre and improv grad ’88, tonight. ( Sept 21) The play is at Academic Hall, produced by Vision Theatre — it’s directed by John Koensgen and had other CHS people also working on it.
We laughed a LOT, all through the play. The play was smart and funny too, gotta love that. It is written by Christopher Durang, and while it surely is a play of ideas, Teri played it with just the right touch to get all the ideas across and keep us laughing. She was abetted in that by her fellow cast members, Sarah Hearn, Colleen Sutton, Matthew Domville and Nadine Thornhill. And of course, director John Koensgen. There was effective and vivid lighting by the talented Lynn Cox too. I have no photo! Oh, I wish I had one! The play runs until Sept 23.

NEIL HERLAND

And look at this! I am floored! I got home to an e-mail from Neil Herland, Bofa 1993, telling me he is now in charge of CBC’s United Nations Bureau in New York!! Wow! That’s huge and WONDERFUL!

Neil was part of the crazy team of ‘93, with 8 guys and 2 girls, and I especially remember a gig at GCTC, when a BOFA guy, running down the stairs to go on stage, said, “here,” and thrust his braces/false teeth into my hand for safe keeping. (Was that Rory?) On stage we had a documentary style to do, and as everyone dithered over who would be narrator, Neil took on the job. The scene was about Houdini - I remember an underwater scene and a very clever ending, and Neil pulling it all together supremely well. You might need to be Houdini to do Neil’s job now.

SPINACH and YOU

I got some help with this entry- thanks, Jess!

You heard about the e coli-spinach fiasco in the States?
Some now think the problem is in the fertilizer:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6084158

Canadians have been told not to eat any fresh spinach from the States.

I heard scientists/nutritionists say that many people without the proper knowledge are jumping onto the-money making opportunities of organic food, and not taking the precautions necessary to make sure the food is safe.

From the Ottawa Citizen, Sept 18:

Rick Holley, a professor of food safety at the University of Manitoba, said that over the last 30 years, there has been a constant increase in foodborne illnesses.

This rise is in part related to the rising numbers of people consuming more fresh produce on the advice of their doctors. He also noted that the distribution chain, from farm to shelf, is much longer, leaving more room for contamination.

Holley said Canadians should be aware that there is a certain amount of risk associated with each and every type of food.

"I think that there should be some concern and I think it's also important to recognize that all of the food we eat is not sterile," he told CBC.

Sept 15



Unutterably sad, the Dawson College shooting.

I am right back in the BOFA ‘99 mindset, when we created our Stranger Game, looking at why and how people become alienated, and what the results can be. Tragedy. I’ll never forget everybody's pain as we went through that process, nor the driven, passionate, insightful, bruising performances that people gave in rehearsal.
The silence after the scenes.


SHERI

So good to see Sheri Segal. I met her by happy accident yesterday at GCTC's ( Greg Nelson's) The Fall, which I was seeing again. Sheri is as beautiful as ever, and still a lawyer, Parliamentary Council in the House of Commons. We sat through World Trade Centre together, and each of us, after the first ten minutes, silently longed for the film to end. I suggest that you only see this film (which is well-done) if you want to feel really bad for a long time.

On the other hand, I think that Little Miss Sunshine is the funniest thing I have seen since I stopped doing BOFA. Smart too, original, I need to see it again! And again!

OF THINGS AUTOMOBILE

About gasoline -- 81.4 cents a litre- Omigod, it’s actually true! Right now, on Merivale Road in Ottawa. I haven’t seen a price like that in how many months? Years?
and
About my Highway 401 tire-bursting adventure - I heard nothing else from the people involved, or from the police, thank goodness.
But I now 'have' a cell phone - courtesy of my loving brother and my concerned and vehement! sister in law, bless them both! I hate what disappears with cell phones - my privacy- and so I will use it only on car trips. But I WILL have it with me then! (if I remember to bring it...)


ABOUT LITERATURE...

Last night we went to the National Archives for the launch of Reluctant Genius, a biography of Alexander Graham Bell, written by Charlotte Gray.
It was so good to hear fluent, intelligent speakers, one after the other, lauding one of their own. The book should be fascinating, as “Alec" was such a volatile character. Charlotte Gray said that the book is partly about scientific prowess, partly high romance. Did you know that AGB was a teacher of the deaf?

I like to be asked, “what are you reading now?” That's one of my favourite questions. There is a small group of people who ask me that question, some young, some not... how great to talk about the books I am immersed in. There isn’t much that’s more intimate than reading an engrossing book. After all, don’t they say that the main sex organ is the brain?

Anyway, I have just finished a re-reading of the The Runes of the Earth, the first book in the series The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, by Stephen R Donaldson,( The Passionate.) I re-read the last Harry Potter this summer, was astounded by Longing, the densely-written story of composer Robert Schumann’s life and marriage to Clara Von Wieke, a tough, but compelling book by J.D. Landis; I just finished We'll Meet Again, by Mary Higgins Clark.
I am now reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by the new wunderkind, Jonathan Safran Foer, and have two books, White Teeth ( by Zadie Smith), and Bel Canto, by Anne Patchett, waiting in the wings. And now there is a new Alice Munro, and a new Margaret Atwood in the stores... and of course Charlotte Gray's book.

I have lately re-discovered the public library. Man, it's like walking into a bank and picking up all the riches you want, free! When I was a child and all through high school, I would take out 6 novels a week. (Six was the limit then.) I can do that again!!

Oh yes, I have lately read some very interesting scripts too!

Which brings me to Christie Watson. Christie has a new job. He is working with GCTC and looking for scripts from Ottawa-based writers, to be possibly developed through GCTC. So, if you are based in Ottawa, and if you write scripts, check it out soon, there could be funding involved. www.gctc.ca

Books bring me to all things Lit., for sure. Anna Humphrey had her baby last month! A beautiful girl, over 9 pounds, her name is Grace. Anna is happy and doing well. Jamila stayed to help Anna at first. I can't wait to see them all in October. I am so happy for Anna. Chris Fraser is teaching this year, and giving workshops on voice. Dave Deveau is in BC, starting work on his Master's degree in writing, and has been doing so well with his playwriting, for both screen and stage.
Laura Farina is coming to Ottawa in November to do a reading at The Royal Oak, the Tree series. You remember that she won the Archibald Lampman Award last year for her book of poetry, This Woman Alphabetical. Laura and I plan to visit.

MORE ABOUT ARCHIBALD LAMPMAN

Archibald Lampman is my favourite Confederation poet. My friend, Stuart, and I have had adventures combing the city in the wee morning hours, looking for places Lampman lived. We tried for a long time to find his resting place in Beechwood Cemetery - his poem is at the entrance of that hauntingly beautiful wooded expanse.

One sticky summer night it grew dark as we were dodging mosquitoes, trying to find Lampman's stone, walking over hillocks. We got back in the car and trundled around the islands, using the headlights to see the writing on headstones. We were suddenly discomfited to see headlights in the rear-view mirror - very close. A pick up truck was right behind us. Fearing some sort of murderer, we were confronted by a little old lady who had a shotgun in her truck. Also in the truck was her young grandson. She was following us, as cemetery caretaker, afraid that we were about to engage in intimate night-time frolics! She said that the cemetery was a favourite trysting place for prostitutes. She was eventually reassured, but we left the finding of Lampman's resting place to another day. DAY!

That's one of my Lampman stories. ( I did find it later, BTW, and amazingly it was just marked by a rock. That began our quest - why such poverty, we wondered.)

IN NOVEMBER

Here's one of my favourite poems by Archibald Lampman, who died so young. 37. ( He worked at the Post Office, you know.)

I imagine him sitting up in the Gatineau Hills, looking down at early Ottawa, as the first snow began:


The leafless forests slowly yield
To the thick-driving snow. A little while
And night shall darken down. In shouting file
The woodmen's carts go by me homeward-wheeled,
Past the thin fading stubbles, half concealed,
Now golden-gray, sowed softly through with snow,
Where the last ploughman follows still his row,
Turning black furrows through the whitening field.
Far off the village lamps begin to gleam,
Fast drives the snow, and no man comes this way;
The hills grow wintry white, and bleak winds moan
About the naked uplands. I alone
Am neither sad, nor shelterless, nor gray,
Wrapped round with thought, content to watch and dream

POETS' WALK!

I told you all that for a good reason! there's a new worthy cause--a poet's walk in Ottawa! This is so exciting! Janice Kennedy has a two-page article in the Citizen of September 10, on the Poets' Pathway, a projected walk from Britannia to Beechwood Cemetery. Ottawa has been home to many celebrated poets -especially Lampman and fellow Confederation poets, Campbell and Scott. This trail would be 30 kilometres long, and incorporate so many places the poets roamed and wrote about. Wouldn't it be just PERFECT?? I am going to donate, www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=31222. Maybe even volunteer! Maybe you could, too!

Today, Sept. 19, Poet's Hill was formally opened at Beechwood Cemetery. It has a granite lectern for readings, and beds of flowers. Later there will be plaques of engraved poems, and a national poets' monument, says Kennedy.

Janice Kennedy ends her lovely article this way:

The meandering trail would lead from the shores of the great river that inspired the poets, through the countryside that fed their lyric creativity, to the graveyard that memorializes them.
And those who follow it, when it opens some day in its entirety, will be tracing the footsteps of departed visionaries who helped cut a green swath through the national imagination.

I want to walk that trail.

THE FALL, GCTC, Sept 5-24.

Opening Night was great! Greg Nelson's play, the world premiere which opens the whole GCTC season this year, was tight, and full of suspense, sometimes funny, very thought-provoking, and it absolutely worked, all the way through! The acting was strong, and I loved the set and the lighting too. And the direction was excellent. Character switches were so well-done. And the play was especially well-written! Yea, everyone, way to go.

It was hot in GCTC, and crowded, what’s new, knees jammed, so many people, so much enthusiasm, but deliciously cool outside after the show was over, in the dark with a full white moon. Greg was happy- his tension over. And triumphantly so!

So many people came and they all enjoyed the play. This was a play with a Canadian political setting, a thriller around the Charter of Rights, and outside after the play, Greg was surprised and delighted to meet lawyer, Mary Dawson, who had actually drafted the Charter of Rights, and had a minor criticism. Only in Ottawa!

Greg has written many award-winning plays, and three radio series for CBC, The Dudley Chronicles, and has just finished writing Afghanada, a radio series about Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, to be broadcast this month on CBC. He wrote this in collaboration with three other well-known young playwrights-- Jason Sherman, Adam Pettle, Andrew Moodie. He is also developing a new play, as part of the Tarragon Theatre Playwrights' Unit.
www.gregnelson.ca

I met Lise Anne Johnson, GCTC’s new A.D., and she is a sweetheart.

Before the show, Dave McCue and I went for dinner at Trattoria Caffe Italia - it's a good thing we made reservations! That place is crowded. Neither of us had a watch, and when we asked the time it was 7:55! Oops! Luckily, there was a crowd at the theatre, and it was still going in. Of course, and wonderfully, our seats were right in the centre of the theatre, and we squished through to them in time. Sorry, everyone who had to get up.

It was SO great to see Greg in his element, and meet his wife, Patti, who worked in theatre and is now practising law, and it was wonderful to see Dave again.

BTW, Greg’s play is a revised version of a shorter one he wrote, The File, which is available in a new play collection of two-handers, Two Hands Clapping.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL- BREAKFAST!



The breakfast was on Wednesday, Sept.6! To celebrate another school year of No Staff Meeting, No Home Room, No Bells, No Attendance Sheets, No Guidance -Announcements -Every -Two- Minutes, in fact, No Classes…

It started at 9:30.

Nicole and Ron Eady, Heather Eberts, Chris Hansen, Jalna Hunt, Sue Robertson, Rick Morgan, Dave Allan, Marilyn Matthews-Dickson, Judy Kirsh, Jim McNabb, Theresa Kelly, Ross Donaldson, Marjory Bryce, Bob Palmai were some of the people there. Everyone looks FABULOUS, so rested, happy, energetic, you might even say young!

and suddenly we noticed it was 12:15 already.

YOU and YOUR ENVIRONMENT. LIGHT AT NIGHT

Keep it dark when you sleep. Don't fall asleep with the light on, or the television on. Without total darkness your body does not make melatonin, which turns off cancer cells. Light at night is being blamed for helping create breast cancer.

During the night, the hormone, melatonin - which Dr. Blask calls " the hormone of darkness" - puts cancer cells to sleep.When women are exposed to light at night, the production of melatonin shuts down within seconds. ( Ottawa Citizen, Sept. 7, 2006)


YOUR BODY CONTAINS HIGH COUNTS of CHEMICALS.

Cancer, attention-deficit disorders, declining sperm counts- many horrible health conditions are linked to innocent everyday items. (Often not so innocent.)

Canadians carry in their bodies quantities of harmful chemicals that you can actually MEASURE.

In fact, Canadians have the SECOND-HIGHEST count of PBDEs in the world. Americans have the highest. PBDEs are flame retardants, used in mattresses and computers.

Phthalates also are DANGEROUS and are everywhere, in wall coverings, flooring, furniture, shower curtains, clothing, raincoats, shoes, toys, rainwear, some toys, shoes, etc.—as well as paint, medical equipment, pesticides, and personal care products (perfume, nail polish, hairspray).
DON'T buy plastics or vinyls with the number 3 on them, denoting phthalates.

Stain-repellent clothing, and non-stick pans are made with perfluorochemicals, which are also carried in Canadian bloodstreams. In YOURS.

DON'T wear stain-repellent clothing. Do cook with stainless steel pots, and stainless steel or cast iron frying pans. NEVER heat plastic in the microwave.

PLEASE visit www.safer-products.org. Right now, click for a fast look! It has excellent information and lists. ( The list of products containing phthalates is from that site.)
It is the web site for an environmental organization in Montreal, Clean Production Action, that evaluates products.

IKEA is a great place to buy from- so is DELL. IKEA bans many harmful substances and carcinogens. DELL bans PBDEs.
Sears, Home Depot and Walmart DO NOT.

And PLEASE tell other people.

SCENES OF INVESTIGATABLE CRIME

http://www.artscourt.ca/main.htm
The SIC show at Arts Court was excellent on Friday night. The show is quite changed from its Fringe appearance, and much longer, but just as funny, just as clever. Jordan, Chelsea and Dom Paré were excellent, and Greg Cochrane gets an Oscar for his bang-on satire of the red-headed David Caruso. It was wonderful to watch him. The show was well-written and physical and tight.

The time waiting for the doors to open seemed like Canterbury Old Home Week, as Stephanie and I walked into the area outside the theatre and found Barry Karp there —and Barb Rager and Jim McNabb and soon Marjory Bryce, as well!! Steve Fisher missed the show - although he strove to get there in time, as he drove up from Toronto after his successful Fringe show, The Cuckoo. But he made it to the lobby after the show.

Picnic Scarecrow was disappointed about one thing though. They were told just before Friday’s performance that there would not be a matinee as scheduled on Saturday, because Arts Court couldn’t find anyone to handle the box office. We all thought the poor organization by Fringe/Arts Court personnel was really inexcusable.

JESS BESS


On another note, I was so happy to see sweet Jess. Jessica Besser-Rosenberg visited me, and she is well, and is off for an exciting year in Chicago, studying Public Policy for her Master’s degree. She has quite a story to tell about gypsies trying to rob her in a laundromat in Florence. She held them off, good thing she’s a toughie!


TRIP

I had a wonderful birthday that has gone on for a week! Stephanie came home this weekend to celebrate with me. I had four birthday dinners, lots of presents! And one of them is a flight to Vancouver and Los Angeles- first class! So I am pretty excited about going in November.
I will see my family and friends in Vancouver, and Martin, Levon, Hamza, Chris, Marjorie too... maybe I can even find Ed!
I haven’t been well enough to travel for a long time, and I am very excited about this trip!

ABOUT DRINKING WATER

There is so much about water. I am torn- I know you are supposed to drink 8 glasses a day- and I can drink close to that if I use bottled water. But now we learn that the plastic bottles are carcinogenic and all leach out carcinogens- http://www.ecologycenter.org/ptf/toxins.html ... so we shouldn't be drinking bottled water.
Never re-use one of these bottles.

Here are 2 paragraphs from http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=668:
Plastic water bottles may be convenient, but they are hazardous to your health and the environment. Many of the materials used to create plastic bottles, including lead, cadmium, mercury, and carcinogens leach into the contents of the bottle. That’s not to mention the toxins that are released into the environment during manufacturing, as well as the number of plastic bottles that litter landfills (see “Bottled Water Flim-Flam” ).
Reusing plastic bottles creates another vicious cycle of health hazards. Most plastic bottles are FDA-approved for one-time-use only, and bacteria will accumulate in the bottle after multiple uses. Cleaning and disinfecting the bottles only worsens the problem, because heat and handling helps to break down the bottles and speeds up the leaching process.

And we really shouldn't be buying water to drink, anyway. The more we buy it, the more likely that a basic human need be commercialized, totally, until we eventually have no choice but to buy drinking water.

Then there's the question of the pipes. Most pipes have all kinds of metallic residue, amongst them lead, a particularly dangerous thing to consume. Did you know that you should let the cold water tap run for minutes in the morning to flush out the lead and other elements in it? Of course heated water contains these leached chemical elements anyway, as the heat breaks them down. Always use cold water in kettles, and to boil food.

Check out: http://www.thegreenguide.com/

Did you know?
It is thought that Beethoven's deafness could have been caused by lead poisoning. An analysis of his hair recently showed 100 times the normal amount of lead in his body.

August 25

BOFA babies

How lovely to see them — yesterday, Trisha, Andrew and Robin visited for the afternoon, for iced tea and coffeecakes. Rae had to go to Montreal to sign a lease, and couldn't come. Everyone looks wonderful, and is set to be really busy in the fall. Trisha- who is still not quite well- has already started her dance year at LAMMI. After a day of dancing from 9 –5, she has to do academic studies from 6-10 all week at Dawson College. Robin goes back September 11 for his last year of theatre school in London, a year of performing- except for two courses. And after a couple of years working, Andrew is heading back to school to study Radio Broadcasting. He has been playing with a band in Montreal. It was so good to see them all, relaxing in the living room in the old way.

I watched Greg Cochrane's show, Comedy Now, on CTV, on Friday. Greg was great and looked confident and beautiful, yeah, he did.

GREG NELSON

On Sunday I had a lovely evening with Greg Nelson. Greg is a playwright, whose new play, The Fall, opens this year’s GCTC season on Sept.7. Greg was in my English classes and in LAG performances at Laurentian High School. We got back in touch after Raoul discovered our connection, when he was acting in one of Greg’s plays out west. Greg was a sterling member of my very first improv team. We competed in 1984 and won the west end, for some reason our only competition. The games were very different then and so were the Games, that year being small, and run by Ottawa drama teachers.

KINGSTON

Steph and I spent a couple of days in Kingston this week, doing summery things- We had a picnic of organic shrimp, wine, cheese, asparagus and chicken, on a windy hill overlooking the waves in Lake Ontario Park. Later we stopped to watch some improv, in a building on the edge of the starry lake, and then we went to a drive-in movie! We couldn't resist, after discovering that one still existed. Wonderful, our first drive-in in how many years? ( Well, the drive-in was wonderful, the movie, Talladega Nights, um, it was ok.)
The next day we went on a cruise of the Thousand Islands. Beautiful blue sky with perfect clouds, rocky islands, some with cottages, some taking up the entire island, and seagulls hovering overhead. Lots of wind, summer hearts.

Did you know that in order to qualify as an island a piece of land must be at least six square feet and have two trees?

THE 401 HORROR

My trip home was horrendous. A sudden, other-worldly roaring in my car on the 401 meant that a tire had burst. I pulled over onto the shoulder, and in my rear-view mirror, I numbly saw a transport truck looming behind me, and a van smashing into it - twice - in sparks and flying metal. Thank God only metal and tires were damaged, and no one was hurt. While we waited for the police, the truck driver, a truly decent man, changed my tire for me. Dealing with it all took about three hours, and then I drove slowly home, a long, dark drive, and a shaky heart, on a tiny tire which had been buried deep in the bowels of the car. I didn’t even know it was there. Home was a great relief. A shame to end the Kingston trip's sun-shiny memories that way. Now I am re-thinking my dislike of cell phones....

CHEMICALS and the ENVIRONMENT and YOUR BODY

You are aware of the awful illnesses and harm that sometimes come about from the way cattle are fed, I am sure. You know that Ken Godmere,who owned the comedy club,The iNSTiTUTiON in Ottawa contracted that brainwasting disease, Jakob-Creutzfeldt. You know that cattle are often fed the remains of other beasts- and that they are fed antibiotics when they aren't sick. You know that these antibiotics are in the milk we drink, and flushing into our water systems. All this to make lots of money for food-producers.

This page on the care2 site describes some farms and producers whose products are clean. You can find your province, and maybe find the clean products in the grocery stores:

http://www.care2.com/dailyaction/primary.html?da%5Btoday%5D=2006-08-25

August 18, 2006.

Hi.

I decided that I could use a blog to answer the people who say to me, "I never know what you are doing. " Maybe I'll create an entry every month - or whenever there is something to say.

So let me say this now: I am happy, I am reborn this summer!
What does this tell you: I am riding my bike, yahoo!
I went hiking in the Gatineau Hills this week with Jim and Marjory, and I saw a scarlet toadstool and a tiny dark green baby frog. Two, one up close, very close! Up hills, down dales, very soggy dales!

I had surgery again in January, my ninth since that initial horror in '98, and I am doing better than ever! I have a new doctor who was an ER doctor for 20 years and he GETS it! He understands, he KNOWS, he LISTENS, he CARES, he fixes me!

This summer I soared, listening to FOUR National Arts Centre Orchestra concerts, with piano soloists, and blue-tummied Pinchas Zukerman, and impossibly soft transitions...and whispering winds... and ten chamber music concerts, under the spires of melting churches...I saw a zillion Ottawa Fringe plays and LOVED the best of all, CSI with Greg, Jordan and Chelsea - so polished, so smart, so funny, so colourful.

I have visited with so many BOFA people - that's another entry- and I actually "acted" in Duncan's movie! A first, and another entry! I went to Perth to see Tyley sing in the park, mmm, and I have been swimming and gardening all summer. I planted five new roses in the back, and they are glorious. I spent a weekend with my family at a cottage in the Muskokas and laughed at the dogs and swam in clear brown water. I laughed at the puppets in the festival in Almonte,and baked in the sun. I water my flowers for an hour every day. I have started to write.



And I have been taking piano lessons for three years, now that's a passion! I practise EVERY day and I love to practise. (But I am nervous to play for anyone, especially Ben.) And I love Ben too, my gentle, demanding, skilful, bassoon-playing, guitar-playing, creative, patient, knowledgeable and beautiful piano teacher.


Oh, there's so much more, but...

I also thought that a blog would be a way to share my latest concerns or passions.

Here is one- a concern and a passion. It's about cancer.

My grandson was born in '98, with neuroblastoma, cancer. That's an abomination, I think, for a child to be blasted in the womb.

In 1999, Johnson died of cancer, months after he had been diagnosed with it. Many of you participated in the show we held at Canterbury, the Johnson Jamboree, in February. Johnson planned to come see us perform in the Games- and he tried. He died in the early hours of the morning the day we were playing.

Johnson still looms in The Games and the NAC Studio, and his friends ache with loss.

In the summer of 2003, my brother told me his wife had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I tried to help as my brother struggled, turning into a haunted, haggard, sleepless skeleton himself, and my sister-in-law got weaker and weaker; they both hoped always for a miracle.
I held her cold, yellow body one day as the nurse was changing her bed, and then I left for rehearsal. Less than an hour later, she died. She was only 50.

Our beautiful Marjorie, Bofa '92, has just recovered from the fight of her life- beating leukemia.

I am enraged. How about you?

How much more so to realize that we are all absorbing uncontrolled carcinogens without number. In our air, our food, our water - always thinking that we are protected from harm by legislation, by governments, AREN'T WE?
Well, no, we are not. Especially not in Canada.

So I am going to put some information in this blog. Don't use teflon-coated pans. Don't use those dryer sheets to soften clothes. Don't breathe or drink or eat anything that has been warmed in plastic. All plastics are not safe at all. Check out everything, including the sources of articles you read. Just be aware. Be smart.


Check out this: http://www.newstarget.com/002693.html

http://www.newstarget.com/019957.html