1st World Problems

 It is Canada Day eve.  Usually spent camping, fireside, with a good chance of someone nearby shooting off some fireworks.  Memories of burned marshmallows and sunburns, this weekend always felt like the start of summer to me.  I have been a proud Canadian since I was old enough to understand what that meant. Our contributions to the world range from medical breakthroughs ( Banting ), to sports ( Naismith ), and our role as peacekeepers ( berets ). We have a lot to celebrate.  We do need to acknowledge a lot of our failures as a nation as well though. Internment camps , starlight tours, and our treatment of Indigenous people in general (think drinking water ).  Then there is the waving of our flag. Since the convoy, I haven't seen anyone flying our flag in the same way. Instead of a feeling of pride and community, I now think of people who think that their rights triumph over everyone else. I think people who have moved so far from the truth and what I alwa...

 I am still hurting, I am still mad. But there are other things in the world to look at, and you can still be trying to figure out what you can do while doing something else.  Summer vacation is here for my daughter. She is now finished with junior high and is onto high school. It's also almost her 15th birthday. I think your kid's birthday by nature makes you reflect on what you were doing at their age. When I was 15, we could still go to Drive-In movies. The theatre (that would no longer be on the outskirts of the city) has long since blown up. The summer for us was spent bouncing from my house, to a friend's house, and then back again.  It was an extended sleepover. Days were spent outside, avoiding parents and younger siblings. But hoping that maybe some older siblings with a car would take pity on us and take us somewhere fun, or buy us treats. When the stampede came around, we would go as many times as possible. We didn't think about much when on the grounds, othe...

 I have talked about this before.  So if some of the things I say in this post sound familiar, it may be because it is something I have said before. Some points in this issue bear repeating, and sometimes to feel truly heard, you have to repeat yourself. So, it actually happened. Roe Vs. Wade was repealed. And almost half the states in America have either made abortion illegal already or are working on it. In some states, like Texas, people had appointments made and had traveled to appointments. Only to show up and find the clinics closed.  This wasn't a surprise really. That is what happens when the highest court in the land is stacked to one side. R V. W isn't just about access to safe abortion though. It is also about privacy in health care and accessing health care safely. Part of the explanation for the repeal is that things like abortion, contraception, gay marriage, and interracial marriage were not specifically mentioned in the constitution.  My question to t...

 Indigenous Musicians.  We have all heard of Robbie Robertson and his time in The Band (have you seen the Last Waltz? I don't think anyone there remembers it). And who doesn't enjoy "Somewhere Down the Crazy River"?  And then there is Redbone. This band is somewhat lesser-known, but I bet if you click the link you will recognize the song "Come and Get Your Love" . And let's not forget everyone's Mother-In-Law's favorite Tom Jackson and his "Huron Carol" . There are so many Indigenous artists right now that should be recognized and have a much larger audience. One of my favourite songs, and has been for a while is "Wasted" by William Prince. The first time I heard the song was while watching the New Year's Eve special on CBC. Prince was born in Selkirk, Manitoba, and later moved with his family to the Peguis First Nation as a child. Prince has won two Junos, a Canadian Folk music Award, and the 2020 SOCAN songwriting prize...

 So today, I thought I would introduce you to some Indigenous Canadian artists. Also, here is a reminder that art is subjective, some work will speak to you and others won't. And another thing, supporting an artist doesn't mean only buying their largest pieces. If you like a print, and can only afford the postcard size, treat yourself. You deserve nice things. Just be sure you are buying from a source where the artist gets their cut.  Norval Morrisseau Bird Family Morrisseau was born on March 14, 1932, on the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek First Nation.  He was often called the "Picasso of the North".  His work featured the beings in the legends of his people, the struggles of the Indigenous people, and his own beliefs and struggles. Also known as Copper Thunderbird, Morrisseau was a self-taught artist who founded the Woodslands School of Canadian art; and was a member of the Professional Native Artists Incorporation. A piece of Morrisseau's was chosen to be the cov...

 There are so many Canadian Indigenous authors that are producing some amazing work.   Continuing with our Indigenous History Month, I am going to give you a list. With a little summary. And some of their titles.  Richard Wagamese. Born on October 14, 1955, in Minaki, Ontario. Richard Wagamese was an author and journalist and member of the Ojibway Nation. Indian Horse is probably his best-known work. That book went on to be made into a movie of the same name after Wagemese's death in 2017. It also won the Burt Award for First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Literature in 2013, as well as being a competing title in that same year's edition of Canada Reads. Indian Horse Eden Robinson  Born on January 19, 1968, in Kitimat, BC, Robinson is a member of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations. Robinson's first book was released in 1995. "Traplines" is a collection of four short stories. That anthology won the Holtby Memorial Prize for best regional work by a commonwealth author...

 It's Indigenous People's Day here in Canada.  Yesterday I featured world-renowned sniper Francis Pegahmagabow. You can go back and read it if you missed it.  And today I am going to feature one of my favourite actors.  I have said many times, and I will probably say again, that a Canadian movie isn't truly Canadian unless it features one of two actors. One is Gordon Pinsent (more on him another day), and the other is our person of the day. Graham Greene! Graham is an Oneida that was born on June 22, 1952, on the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. His first brush with the stage was working in Newfoundland as an audio tech. In 1974 he graduated from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre's Native Theatre School Program and from there starred on stage, in movies, and in TV shows.  Nominated for an Oscar (one of only two Indigenous actors nominated, ever) for the 1990 movie "Dances With Wolves", Greene has starred in many great films (Wind River, The Green Mile, Winter...

As you may be aware tomorrow (June 21st) is National Indigenous Peoples Day in Canada.  Our country has a long way to go when it comes to acknowledging the way that it has treated and continues to treat the Indigenous people. Part of that is celebrating the impact that Indigenous people have had on us historically.  While Canadians are for the most part thought of as peace-loving and gentle people. we do have a number of war heroes. One of those that hasn't received as much attention as he should is Francis Pegahmagabow. Francis was born on March 9, 1891, in the Shawanaga nation in Ontario. Following the death of both of his parents, he was later raised by his grandfather of sorts (Noah Nabimanyquod had also raised Francis' dad after his parent's death) in the same nation.  Francis worked many jobs around his nation and excelled in his studies and music. In 1914, at the start of the first world war, Indigenous people were discouraged from joining the war. In 1916, after m...

 The Klondike Papers. If you pay attention to politics, you may have already heard about them. And they aren't about the wrapping on ice cream sandwiches.  According to someone who is calling themselves a whistleblower, there is a church in Canada that has hatched a right-wing plot to not only have the Prime Minister "taken care of", but to place the furthest right of right people put in control instead.  From what I have heard, the main part of this plan is a lawyer here in Calgary. Not only is he a member of a church with many whispered accusations behind it, but he is super-rich. And no one trusts the super-rich.  I don't want to get too deep into the rabbit hole about this right now. I don't know how much truth there is to the allegations, and I find most conspiracy theories to be easily debunked and the people truly obsessed with them might need a grippy sock vacation.  These papers hold some of the same bases as many other popular theories. That the rich a...

 Can you separate the actor from the role? As you may have heard, there is a second Top Gun movie out now.  And Tom Cruise is back as Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell. Tom Cruise is one of the last big movie stars. Pretty much every movie released that he has a part in is guaranteed to be a massive hit. From the Mission: Impossible series to the Jack Reacher movies, Cruise has had a long and varied career.  He is also a very visible member of Scientology.  The church has been accused of many things. None of them are great. And as the world grows smaller, thanks in large part to the internet, people's opinions and stories are now easier to hear and they move quickly. I am not going to get into all of them here, you can look up the accusations if you choose.  Because of his affiliation with this organization, many people are asking that the public at large not see this movie. Which got me thinking about other movie stars, and what happened with them. Is the boycotti...

 The rain is coming.  One of my favorite sounds in the world is rain.  It doesn't rain all that often here, but when it does, it can be rather dramatic. Being this close to the mountains causes some unique weather patterns. Giant hail storms that come out of seemingly nowhere happen around once a year, funnel clouds are not uncommon in the summer, and watching far-off lightning while sitting around a campfire is a summer tradition.  If you couple all of those things with something called a snowpack, bad things can sometimes happen.  Nine years ago to the day, Calgary had a one-in-a-100-year flood.  Days of heavy rain caused a larger than normal snowpack to melt rapidly. All of this water flowed down into the rivers and swept through Banff, Canmore, Calgary, and other towns causing a lot of damage. I remember watching the news reports and seeing a small cabin that had been swept into the river be smashed against the underside of a bridge.  Downtown Calg...

 Since it's Friday, let's have some fun.  My daughter has always had a love for riddles, my mom loves jigsaw puzzles, and I love word puzzles.  Since a jigsaw won't work here, and neither will an interactive word game (check out wordle or quordle if they are also your thing), I am going to leave a few of our favorite riddles. Some of these are going to be groan-inducing, as a warning.  Let's start with some easy ones: 1. When is a door no longer a door? When it's ajar. 2. What has a bottom at the top? Your legs. 3. Where is the only place where today comes before yesterday? A Dictionary. Now a little harder: 1. What can fill up a room, but takes up no space? Light. 2. What is so fragile that saying its name breaks it? Silence. 3. What do you lose the moment you share it? A Secret. Now for some logic riddles: 1. You see a boat filled with people, yet there isn't a single person on board. How? Everyone on board is married. 2. If you are running a race and pass t...

So, I don't really know how to talk about this, but with most things, I tend to feel better once I had thought them out in writing. This time I am talking about guns.  Growing up I can't say I ever thought a lot about guns. I mean, I knew they were out there and knew that some of my family members had them, but I never saw them. This proves the "out of sight, out of mind" theory I guess. And because I never saw them I am guessing that means that in any houses I was in that had a firearm in them, the owner of the weapon was careful to store them properly. If not locked up, they were put away somewhere properly.  There has, however always been something about guns. Even though I never saw them (except in media) I was always afraid of them. In my mind, something that has that kind of power shouldn't just be out and about. There should be no easy access to something that basically has the sole purpose to kill some other living thing.  A gun can't be used to slice ...