What lies beneath

The silver maple
has seen at least 150
summers and winters
and could explain
the difference between
weather and climate.
If it does
acerbically speak it says things like
‘my roots go deep
and I reach as high
as I can still drink from them.
Those are my limits.
And I can be happy with them.’

So I suppose I can
converse with it.
Has anyone tapped
your treasure of knowledge
before I wonder.

Today as I dug for a post
hole
on the other side of
the sidewalk
with my back to you,
the boulevard mammoth,
I found two of your
larger roots and
many small ones.

I cheerfully curse
as I dig round them.
Too close to earth day
to kill your drinking supply.

Oh but I’m so tempted.
And why? So my hole can go
where I want it?
Does my landscape
need to be so regimented?

And did I not defend you
with that cube-truck delivery guy
who took that chunk out of your limb?
I sure did.

But now
I’m in from my second
attempt at the hole
and it will probably take
a third or fourth.

But I’m taking my
time. I like the smell of
the living earth under
my finger nails.
Wafting up periodically
as I type.
I’m talking back to you tree.
I caress your tongue roots
with my shovel
hoping not to cut our
communication.
To keep that bridge alive.

-2007/04/30-

Take a Wet Page from…

So at church today we were sitting close to the front and at the left. JB picked the seat; we usually sit further back. Anyway as we were singing to the Music for the Sprinkling Rite I pointed out to JB how crinkly this particular page in the CBW was. Then it dawned on me. This page was bound to be crinkly since you’re likely to be sprinkled while singing it and especially so in those particular pews since that’s where our current priest usually begins his sprinkling tour of the church fully loaded with holy water. He actually missed us today but JB and I thought the crinkly page was particularly funny. You had to be there.

Nirvana’s Smells like Teen Spirit

I watched an episode of Classic Albums on Nirvana’s Nevermind a little while back. This band isn’t usually my cup of tequila but this show was really interesting for the boys, Karen and I. Personally, I’m not a huge Kurt Cobain or Nirvana fan but I do like the sound of Smells like Teen Spirit if my eardrums aren’t bleeding after it.
Actually if you check out the link above and learn a little history about the band and this song in particular you might even enjoy the process. The origin of the name of the song is worth it! I had all kinds of ideas about what it meant but the truth is hilarious!
That isn’t covered in the episode but it does have some insights into Samuel Bayer’s video that so revolutionized the industry after it. It also has great interviews with Krist Novoselic (bass player with the band 1987–1994) and Dave Grohl (drums 1990–1994) who both reveal interesting factoids. Krist looks anything but like the punk rocker he once was and admits that his Nirvana years were the most productive thing he has ever done although he has done some interesting political activism and he and Grohl both have had many other musical ventures since.

time dream

The cutoff was in no way marked but the road seemed good and we had to stop for a pee break. Trees and weeds fertilized and watered we set off again. But as often happens we couldn’t find our way back on to the highway.
After much time spent in reverse we finally found an old rusted sign which indicated the adjacent dirt track was the much sought after on ramp. A few hundred yards of twists and turns brought us to a bluff overlooking the highway. We parked where the road seemed to run out of dirt and got out a little disoriented and disappointed. There was the road. The goal was so close.
JB found a set of stairs going down the hill through a tunnel reinforced with metal. I don’t know what we were looking for. It did seem a neat tunnel… Perhaps we just all needed to stretch our legs. So for whatever reason we all followed the stairs down.
At the bottom a faint trail through the grasses and weeds led further down into a gully and right up to the shoulder of the road. Again, I don’t know why we did it, but we simply kept on. We went down the path and somehow the path seemed to keep on going. It actually crossed the highway.
Through the roar of the whizzing traffic we could all see the path ahead but for years we couldn’t figure the reason why we did what we did next. The earth path continued on from the gravel of the shoulder and across the divided highway and through a small gap in concrete dividers. Even the asphalt of the road went up to the path, almost tentatively, and then started up again on the other side of the path as if it was an unbreachable foot and half rift. From our perspective the cars and trucks seemed unconcerned with the path. They would go transparent and then disappear completely over the path and be re-emerge on the other side of the path. There was no other word for it but ‘bizarre’.
Justin was the first to go but we all simply followed him across. None of the cars stopped or bothered us in the least. We felt nothing as we walked across.
On the other side everything seemed different. We followed the path until it came around the lip of a small set of woods and we found ourselves at the end of an alley near a small town centre bustling with activity.
I looked around and could see no evidence of the path that had brought us. There was a broken fence at the end of the alley and then a very tall wall.
Em muttered something about the weird clothes everyone was wearing. I spun around and saw that it did look a little odd but couldn’t place why. I noticed that the cars were all old models and seemed bigger than usual.
Before I could say anything JB called us over excitedly.
He was by a newspaper stand and was trying to get me to look at something. We all hurried over.
He pointed at the top of the National paper.
“What is it?”
“Look at the date.”
I read the masthead three times before I stood up and repeated the date to Karen and the other kids.
“August 9, 1992.”
One of the stories caught my eye and read it aloud: “25th Olympic Summer games closes in Barcelona, Spain. Canada brings home 18 medals:  7 gold, 4 silver and 7 bronze.”
Karen said, “What’s going on Terry. That can’t be right.”
I checked another paper next to it and it had the same date. They looked new and real and it turned out that they were real. We were the ones who have traveled back in time.

So we were stuck back 15 years without money (our cash was all too new to use and all our electronic cards were not due to be of any use for many years) or a home. We tried to find the path and the off ramp again but without success: it seemed to have vanished after we used it. We found the field above the highway but there was no car or stairs down a tunnel there and the highway was much smaller.
We couldn’t go and see anyone we knew since I was afraid of changing time and causes irreversible problems. Science fiction had warned of the consequences and I believed them. So we had to wait out our 15 year sentence.
Of course, once we had found jobs and had the kids in schools under assumed names we soon recovered. In fact Karen and I were making some fairly savvy investments. Almost like we knew what the future had in store. After 5 years we didn’t need to work at all. Our investments were more than enough to live on.
Finally we made our way back to the field in 2007 and watched our former selves walk down the tunnel and disappear on the path to the past. We got in the car and returned home. We all looked very different of course and had to be careful who we told our crazy story to.
But with enough money we were able to smooth the way. And, of course, such an experience makes your family much closer and tight knit if it survives. And we did! Of course Em had married and JB and Justin were both at University but that’s another dream.

Monster House

An animation made with extensive use of live actors doing live moves with live action sensing and T-poses (standing with arms outstretched for reference) about a possessed house. The plot could have used refinement but for a loan from the library it was OK. My favourite part of the movie is the very beginning with the cute little yet annoying girl on the tricycle. Innocence versus the cranky old man and his precious lawn. That was good and things would have been better if continued in that vein. I liked Steve Buscemi as Nebbercracker but they could have picked a name less obviously leading. The other performers who were particularly good were Jon Heder as Reginald ‘Skull’ Skulinski, the wise video addict, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Zee the self-involved babysitter, and Officers Landers and Lister (Kevin James and Nick Cannon). I thought that Catherine O’Hara’s bit part as the Mom was very well done too.
For the money they invested in this movie I think they could have done better.

Wanton Ways

A while back I watched an episode of the Food Network’s Good Eats (one of my favourite cooking shows hosted by the always interesting and ever witty Alton Brown) called Wanton Ways. Alton convinced me about how easy it is to make potstickers. I tried them and they became an instant hit with the family. It is surprising how easy they are to make but be aware that they do take some prep time. Just put on a book-on-CD and make/cook the wantons while you listen. You get pretty fast after the first few.
I haven’t tried the Vegetarian Steamed Dumplings yet but am eager to try those good eats too.
If you haven’t watched an Alton show be sure to check him out. He digs into the history and practicalities of cooking: not just recipes you could never afford the time or money to make. Definitely good vids! If you can catch any of these episodes, don’t miss them:

• The Big Chili
• cookies (aka Three Chips for Sister Marsha)
• chocolate (aka The Art of Darkness I, II or III)
  

But all episodes are fantastic.

Beowulf and Grendel

This movie has a very disjointed plot which is hard to follow and lacking in adequate direction. Perhaps that comes from using poetry as a source. It has been too long since I read the poem so I can’t really comment on how far it strays from the text.
There are compensations though. The stark and buffeted scenery of Iceland does give one pause. I also liked the portrayal of the not-so-murderous side of the troll Grendel. The witch Selma is acted by Sarah Polley; I would have liked to see more care put into the writing behind her character. Gerard Butler aka the Phantom played Beowulf and did a pretty good job. But I think the best acting was probably done by Iceland itself.
I am disappointed with this one: it could have been a lot better considering the hardship and difficulty gone through to make it. The special features are quite interesting and worth watching despite the film.

One Good Catch

Seeing it I marveled
at the chances
that
old TV tower rusted at
the base
near the lively
earth

would groan and fall

in the
wind and rain and light show
of a sudden storm

fall narrow,
missing both houses,

unto the yellow fork
of a standing
dead
tree

the cable tautly
extending
into its house

the antenna tilted
but suspended over
an unsuspecting
bunny
in the neighbour’s yard

this ancient technology
long given way to
more dependent cable
and soon the internet or
satellites
but didn’t break down
the fence
was caught in the trusty dead cedar
arms extended up
for the catch of
a pop fly
frozen

it presented itself
as evidence
of,
if not luck,
then fortuitousness.

The nobility
of the catch
proving sturdy
the wisdom
of being left alone
in the out field
bark cracking
but heartwood still
strong

waiting for just
this day

this chance
for one good catch.

-2007/04/23-

The Thief Lord

Conelia Funke’s The Thief Lord gets its teeth into you not because of the very illustrative depictions of Venice or the characteristic Funke magic woven into the tale near the end or the interesting situation of the runaways or even the complex and rich characters themselves. It is the wonderful relationships that Funke manages to build so quickly that ensnare you. The characters grow so much in the exploration of their interactions that you don’t want to leave them or be apart from them. You really begin to care for Prosper and Bo, Hornet, Scipio and the rest. Like the amazing Inkheart and almost as stellar Inkspell (both of which I attempted to review earlier), it’s very hard to part from this talented writer’s work. They are all excellent choices to read to kids 10-12 or beyond if they’ll let you.
I listen to her work, unabridged, on CD. Simon Jones did a wonderful job with The Thief Lord and is worth looking for in your library.
Here’s another review for your perusal.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

This documentary is very well put together and focuses our attention on how the conspiracy of conservative profiteers can subvert environmental choice in consumers. I knew some of the facts behind this documentary but when I see them all compressed so well in one 92 minute sitting I was impressed and enjoyed it tremendously.
My favourite point in the movie was when Ed Begley Jr. acknowledges in the film that electric cars were not for everyone: they were for only 90% of the car-buying public. The reason that the car companies would want to kill the electric car is that they would be shooting themselves in the foot by making them. The car consumes too few automative parts over the course of its life: no oil filters, carburetors, spark plugs, etc. Just not enough post-sale obsolescence. They’re too damn good!
I wish I had one!