An old photo. A new project. A bit over a week ago Meg and I decided to embark on our own little chronicle of East Van – its institutions, its food, its history, its people, its struggles and celebrations and possibilities. Viaduct, we’re calling it, though viaducteast is its web-name.
Why viaduct? Well, the Georgia Viaduct is a [...]
Archive for May, 2008
Viaduct
Posted in Misc., tagged Blogging, East Van on May 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Union Bosses
Posted in Labour and Unions, tagged History, Labour and Unions, The Left, Work on May 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It’s been a union-centred life of late, even more than normally. Meg spent last week in Ottawa bargaining and rallying to express offense at the flat-out shitty offer the government has made to its workers, so I was thinking about her and her frustrations alot. And here in Vancouver I was getting settled into my first week back [...]
Damn
Posted in Labour and Unions, Misc., tagged IWW, Labour Songs, Music on May 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Only a matter of days after I wrote about Utah Phillips here, this old Wob has passed on. Rather than write anything more myself, I’ll simply refer those who don’t know him to this video, and copy here the words of Jim Page that are circulating.
Rest well, comrade.
—————
In the night of May 23, 2008, Bruce [...]
Obama-rama
Posted in Political Stuff, tagged Politics on May 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Meg and I spent an afternoon at the beach recently with a friend - sharing beer, enjoying the sun, watching herons and eagles and kingfishers. So of course we talked about the U.S. primaries and upcoming election.
Just to make my own position clear – I begin biased, because I have no fucking time for Hillary Clinton. First, [...]
Fambly
Posted in Family, Relationships, tagged Family, Parenting, Personal, Relationships on May 22, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Family. In recent days, I have begun to re-define this term for myself. There’s the family of my parents and brothers. There’s the family I created with my ex. And always, across these and also outside of them, there is Mica. Now, however, for the first time since that kid was born ten and a [...]
Utah
Posted in Labour and Unions, Music, Political Stuff, tagged IWW, Labour and Unions, Labour Songs, Music on May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I was 15 years old, and a friend of my folks’ made a few tapes of political music for me to take along for our year in Zimbabwe. That’s where I discovered Billy Bragg, Little Steven and a whole host of others. And it’s where I found Bruce “Utah” Phillips – storyteller, songwriter, keeper of the oral [...]
Wasting Time With A Post on Rhyme
Posted in Misc., Reading and Writing, tagged Poetry, Reading and Writing on May 20, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Today I woke up thinking about Ogden Nash – the man who taught us, among other things, that we’ll never see a billboard lovely as a tree, and that, when it comes to gettin’ close to a lady friend, “candy is dandy but liquor is quicker”.
I’m a fan of the rhyme. Couplets. limericks, rhythm and [...]
Solidarities and Rages
Posted in Political Stuff, tagged History, Resistance, Southern Africa, The Left, Zimbabwe on May 19, 2008 | 2 Comments »
This is what I wake up to. News out of South Africa that 12 people – most likely all Zimbabweans forced into economic or political exile – have been killed in a wave of anti-immigrant violence in Johannesburg. Yeah, free South Africa.
I’ve never travelled to S.A., but Zimbabwe I know quite well. I know that [...]
Meeting Meg, Meeting Mica
Posted in Family, Relationships, tagged Family, Parenting, Relationships on May 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Quite the day for a ten-year old girl. Sports Day yesterday, which meant four hours of running and jumping and tug-o-warring and balancing assorted objects in strange places, all in some damn hot heat, at least for Vancouver this time of year. Then it was a five hour play-date with a friend whose mom needed [...]
90 Years of Sedition
Posted in Political Stuff, tagged History, IWW, Resistance on May 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Today, May 16, marks the 90th anniversary of the US Sedition Act. It’s purpose? From History.com, hardly a radical information source, here’s the gist.
“Aimed at socialists, pacifists and other anti-war activists, the Sedition Act imposed harsh penalties on anyone found guilty of making false statements that interfered with the prosecution of the war; insulting or [...]
