More vintage cars

We saw these cars while we were waiting for the Saltspring ferry during the summer. We saw them leaving...fun to see some of them being cranked up. Must be quite something to keep these in running order.




Jim admiring his favourite....a convertible, of course.

Dirigible passing by my window

I just happened to see this Bell dirigible pass by the window while I was posting to my blog yesterday so had to take a picture of it. Jim is quite fascinated by these craft...figures they would be a great way to get to Vancouver.

My Architect

This is a great documentary on Louis I. Kahn, the architect, who did some rather amazing buildings like the National Assembly in Bangladesh and the Salk Biological Institute in La Jolla. It was made by one of his illegitimate children (he had three "families") and is really very moving. I.M Pei (Christian Science Centre in Boston, Pyramid at the Louvre) was interviewed and spoke with such reverence about Kahn's work.

The film has inspired me to look at architecture books and also take another look at Moshe Safdie's work of Habitat '67 fame. I remember being very excited by the idea of possibly living in such a place and was glad to read recently that people still do live there and tend to be long time residents.

A really interesting website I came across is Great Buildings

I really liked this travel sketch Kahn did of the Campo in Siena, Italy. The "Campo" is the town square where they have the horse races in the summer known as the "Palio". The sketch is done in winter and I can imagine the bell tower does cast such a long shadow and also the bright colours suggest the colours of the riders and their standards.



Sketch by Kahn of the Campo in Siena

NYC Museum of Modern Art Posters - 2

More of these great posters...


Italian Airline ad - 1933


Nivea skin cream ad - 1948


Ad for the magazine "Paris Review" - 1967


IBM ad - 1982

Children's art

This art always makes my day!

Another walk downtown

A few images from another walk downtown Victoria last week. Don't think there will be too many of these strolls in the sunshine for a while.


A sneak shot inside the Fran Willis Gallery.


Government Street


This dog didn't bat a closed eye even though numerous people stepped over him.


In front of "Dig This"....I love the boots!

What I've been reading lately...

"Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

I believe the bookies in the UK have it as the front runner for the Booker. It's a dystopia about cloning but while the ethics are an issue the real heart of the novel is characterization and how people would act and relate to each other. Just like "Remains of the Day" could be said to be about social class and it was; but characterization and relationships were key there as well.

It's quite brilliant the way he builds the suspense about what's really going on and just like the students at Hailsham we somehow know more before we really know it. While it it somewhat difficult to believe our society would ever raise clones for the sole purpose of harvesting their organs, it is certainly true that we need to think very carefully about what we begin as once we have cures for cancer, heart disease, etc. we will certainly never let go of those cures. This is a major premise of the novel.

Hailsham (I guess it's a play on "hail a sham") was an experimental cloning centre where the students were encouraged to be creative and who were protected from the truth of their purpose so they could have a "happy" childhood. They believed to the end this helped them to cope with the reality of their future. Art work from the students was collected to try to prove the clones had "souls". In the end this experiment was abandoned and all clones now up knowing their purpose and being suffciently branwashed to accept their purpose in life which is to "donate" and to eventually "complete" (die).

The novel is very moving and poignant in depicting the Hailsham students who hear rumours that they are "special" and can be given extensions before beginning donations if they prove they are in love or rumours that they could actually work in a normal workplace for a while. These all turn out to be rumours without any truth and it is quite heartbreaking.

As absurd as the premise of the novel seems, I can't help thinking that the advantaged of this world provide similar heartbreaking scenarios for the disadvantaged continually and yet we don't recognize the absurdity of this situation.

"Rockbound" by Frank Parker Day

This was originally published in 1928 and is about the fishing communities on Nova Scotia's South Shore. It's been recently republished and I see it's won the CBC Radio Canada Reads contest. Really quite interesting and especially since the author was almost murdered by the inhabitants of this area when he went back to visit because the book portrayed "us humble inhabitants on four little island as ignorant, immoral, and superstitious...when our Island can boast of three school teachers, and there isn't a child that can't read and write".

Each chapter starts with a quote from the Canterbury Tales. This quote from the novel gives a flavour of it and also seems rather fitting after reading about a colleague of Jim's who is currently on a year's sailing trip, and appears to be spending most of the time in the fog off the California coast. Sounds like the fog there is coming in like Godzilla rather than the "little cat feet" of Carl Sandburg.

"David took a course on Rockbound before the fog shut out the island, and kept his ears alert for the sound of breakers. The deep-laden Phoebe moved sullenly, her jib flirting from side to side of the stay with a vixenish snap. Now, had David had a draught of rum, or even pipe and tobacco, he would have been comforted, for the stoutest heart is lonely on a fog-shrouded sea."

Victoria is still a small town after all.

I guess we'll know Victoria has irrevocably changed when people don't feel comfortable putting out their fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc. and having an honour box for people to pay.

What the hey?

This week we learn that Diet Coke makes you fat and fruits and vegetables don't necessarily ward off disease. I guess we'll be hearing next that positive thinking has a negative effect! Sort of reminds me of when I was pregnant and reading parenting books. It was rather comforting to know that just about anything you did had an advocate for it being the right thing.

I wonder how much of our economy is devoted to people taking surveys and doing studies....

NYC Museum of Modern Art Poster - 1

I found this book in the library from an exhibit they did a while back. Very interesting collection of posters!


Theatre ad - 1894


Shoe ad - 1912


French Railway ad - 1929


London Underground ad by Man Ray - 1932

"Stringed Instruments"

On my way to my music class at Uvic this last Monday (The Viennese Enlightenment...great as always) I always enjoy the art displays from the Art Education Department. This assignment was to create "stringed instruments" from paper and string. Very imaginative, don't you think?

Family Snapshot - a story of two grandmothers.

Both grandmothers were very important to me and the following story says a lot about the kind of people they were. I was about seven years old at the time and it was Thanksgiving. We were going to my paternal grandmother's (Phoebe's) for dinner. My parents were having a big argument which was disconcerting because my parents rarely argued. It seemed that my mother wanted her mother (Selma) to join us. This was unusual as we had always seen the grandmothers separately.

This was apparently a big problem because my aunt and grandmother didn't like my mother's mother because she was a poor Swedish immigrant who spoke with an accent. This was my first experience with social class and prejudice and I was devastated. I loved both grandmothers equally...how could they not love each other!

In the end Selma was invited and although my aunt Evelyn was quite cool, Phoebe was welcoming and friendly thoughout the evening. After dinner we played a simple card game. Selma didn't really know anything about cards. I'm not sure she had even played a card game before and when it came her time to deal she obviously didn't have a clue how to shuffle the cards. But she wasn’t daunted and was determined to take her turn like everyone else. She asked for a basket and shuffled them around in that! My aunt rolled her eyes but Phoebe, who was renowned for her canasta playing, made a special point of saying what a good idea that was for shuffling!

I'll never forget my grandmother's kindness that day.

I remember well the last time I saw Phoebe. I was only 12 years old and had never seen anyone in hospital before. We went to visit her there and I had been told she was very ill. When we arrived she was in an oxygen tent and that frightened me. She realized my concern immediately and took it off saying it didn't matter, hugged me close and held my hand.

I think I remember these incidents because they show that my grandmother, Phoebe, had such heart. It didn't matter that her grand daughter ruined her plants by watering the tops, or that the other grandmother her grand daughter loved so much shuffled cards in a basket, or that she, herself, needed the oxygen tent. She realized other things mattered.

And when I think of my other grandmother, Selma, I realize she always showed heart in everything she did.

Family Snapshot - my grandmother, Phoebe. Part 2

I have quite a few things that belonged to her including a gold pocket watch, silver dressing set, napkin rings, her opera glasses, canasta playing cards, silver locket, sterling flatware, etc. It was very important to have these things. One needed to “keep up appearances” but they struggled as well. It must have been difficult for them to acquire these "necessities" along with buying a violin for my father and paying for lessons so he could have the possibility of becoming a musician.

This side of the family were prairie wheat farmers (some still are) and my father’s family couldn’t make a go of farming in Saskatchewan so moved to have a farm in the lower mainland but that didn’t work out either. My grandfather eventually gave up farming and became a salesman for Singer Sewing Machines. I remember my father telling me he had to shoot his dog because the cows chased the dog into the barn and a dog who couldn't earn his keep coudn't be kept. According to his father, since it was his dog he had to shoot it. That must have been a difficult thing for a gentle soul.

I treasure the napkin rings the most as we have names or initials of four generations on them now. My mother came up with this idea and I was thrilled to have my name on my grandmother’s ring. If I have a granddaughter her name will join ours.


Some of my grandmother's things.

Family Snapshot - my grandmother, Phoebe. Part 1

I remember my paternal grandmother, Phoebe, very well and still think about her even though I was only twelve when she died. I always thought of her as being a very elegant person and she was obviously delighted to have grandchildren. My father married quite late in life and his sister was a spinster. My grandmother was very much like my father in personality....a kind, gentle person with a quiet sense of humour.

I remember staying with her and my aunt during holiday periods. She was a great gardener and let me help her in the garden. She taught me that you watered plants at their roots, although I didn't really believe it and I remember sneaking out and pouring water over the tops just to make sure they didn't die! I was also quite fascinated by the milk being delivered by horse...in Kerrisdale they still had that system although most of the city had motor trucks. My grandmother would always pick up the droppings for her garden.

She was a wonderful cook and was famous for her gravy and her sugar cookies were always perfect and to die for. She was an excellent lawn bowler and canasta player. I remember her always coming back from these sessions with the "prize" which was a pound of loose tea.


Phoebe and her husband, Thomas.

Un Cadeau pour Monique

I'm reposting this little quicktime movie for Monique. I took it in 2002 when we visited Monique's mother, Jacqueline, and her partner Roger in St. Aygulf.

UncadeaupourMonique.mov

Family Snapshot - my grandmother, Selma. Part 2

My grandmother loved flowers and floral motifs were everywhere in her small apartment. Her favourite colour was yellow. My favourite colour has always been red so we were pretty close in taste. She loved to crochet and made tablecloths and bedspreads for all her children and grandchildren.


A tablecloth my grandmother crocheted for me and my mother's treasured crystal bowl.

She was a member of many Seniors’ groups in Vancouver and travelled on the bus to a different one everyday. She especially enjoyed the crafts they did and her place was full of things she had made. She also painted hundreds of Royal Doulton type figures. They were just plaster underneath but all the same they looked almost authentic. She loved giving her family these gifts.


Dolls that my grandmother painted especially for me when I was a child.

She never really had anything of value until she was given a gold link bracelet that had belonged to her mother. When relatives from Sweden were visiting they brought this bracelet with them for her. Since it had a reddish tinge and my grandmother always referred to it as “Swedish gold” we felt it probably wasn’t really gold and we had always heard the stories of how poor they were. One day a friend pointed out the "gold mark" and explained how European gold was often made from a copper base so that’s why it looked different from our yellow gold. Also, that even poor families often had their “piece of gold” just in case very dire times arrived. My mother gave me the bracelet many years ago and I have always treasured it.


My greatgrandmother, Kristina Karolina Munson, taken in 1906 in Sweden

My grandmother had little money but was very generous and made sure there was something for her great grandchildren when she died. It was a significant amount of money for someone in her position to save and was very helpful to the recipients. I know she would have deprived herself of little things to be able to do this; but also I know she would have received great pleasure doing it.

Family Snapshot - my grandmother, Selma. Part 1

Although I never knew my grandfathers I felt very blessed to have two wonderful grandmothers. My maternal grandmother, Selma, lived to the age of 95 and died when I was 30 so we had many years of friendship and she was able to see me get married and start a family. She was always very taken with how my husband would often whistle to himself. She felt this was the mark of a very happy man!

Her life wasn’t easy. Her own husband had abandoned the family leaving her with four children to raise. She cleaned houses to do this. She had immigrated from Sweden as a young woman. She often told me that although they were poor they had a farm so the family always had food, unlike other people in her village. She also told me about the rich people whose properties she had to walk a long way round to get home.

My mother left school after grade 8 to help my grandmother clean houses since she was the eldest of the four children and they needed the money. My mother loved a chrystal bowl in one of the houses they cleaned and always filled it with flowers from the garden. One day the mistress of the house gave the bowl to my mother since she loved it so much and you can imagine what a thrill this was for my mother. I still have it and it is a very beautiful bowl.


My grandmother, Selma, (standing) and her sister Karin.

How it all began...

Richard got me doing this blog by explaining "blogging" was a new and different way of writing. This was when I was rather frustrated I couldn't write that novel I had always thought I would write when I was retired. I hated every minute sitting staring at that blank page when I was trying to do that whereas I find doing this blog tremendous fun. Writing doesn't seem a chore when you're doing it in little bits and don't feel you have to write anything particularly strange or startling.

I've recently printed up all my blog entries and it's interesting for me to look back at them. I'm glad I have them in that format as the online archive is rather annoying to read since it's done by week. And I realize that it all adds up to quite a bit of writing in the end and is a record of our travels and things we've been doing...some of which I've already forgotten!

So I thought it would be a good idea to include from time to time what I'm going to call "Family Snapshots"...remembrances of people and things in the past. Writing a "Family History" would seem daunting and pretentious somehow; but I'm sure blogging these stories will be fun and in the end there will be a record that I'm sure will be fun to read for me and our family in the years to come. In the process of writing these I find I'm starting to remember things I had "forgotten".

I'll start tomorrow with the first one.

Cook Street Village and Fort Street

We continue our walks around Victoria. It's really fun exploring various areas we don't usually go to.


Top hats in a store on Fort


A fabulous old Plymouth parked on Cook Street

A few more Vancouver photos

I thought this bakery's way of advertising its daily special was the perfection of simplicity and very effective. What they do is place a baking tray of flour in the window with what's featured etched out in the flour.




And I guess what's old is new again. I took this picture walking along fourth Ave. It could have been an outfit I wore in the 60's when living in Kits and going to UBC.




We noticed they've created a "doggy run free beach" walking along from Kits to the Planetarium. These dogs look like they're in seventh heaven, n'est-ce pas?




And these dogs are were heading towards the beach with great anticipation.

A super weekend in Vancouver

We just came back from a super weekend in Vancouver doing a house exchange with a couple who have a fabulous condo on Broadway above Lumiere. We were hoping to get into his bistro next door (Feeney's) but were too late reserving; however, we had a super dinner at The Mistral beside it...sort of a French bistro style. I had an excellent cassoulet and Jim and Richard had great steaks. For lunch we went to the "Watermark", the new restaurant on Kits beach. We just love this area and have so many memories of Kits that we'll probably go to this restaurant everytime we go to Vancouver. Food excellent as well...especially enjoyed the tempura smelts...yum...! And Sunday brunch at Bridges on Granville Island...it's great that Richard is living there now.


Brunch at Bridges.


The new "Watermark" restaurant at Kits beach


I hope this can be read. We hadn't noticed this before...it's on the way from Kits towards the Planetarium.


Kits again and Jim climbing up the pole that has been there since he used to visit his grandparents as a kid.


Richard and I in Stanley Park

Frank Gehry in Brighton

I always find Frank Gehry's work fascinating. I loved his building at MIT...the only interesting building in the whole place!
His design for Brighton, U.K. is being vilified but I think it could look great.

Gehry says his design was inspired by his vision of "Victorian women in flowing dresses promenading along the seafront". His critics say it's more like "transvestites caught in a gale". You be the judge.

Another Olympic view with arbutus trees

I'm having a lot of fun mixing paint these days to get various effects.



Olympic View with Arbutus Trees 2
18 x 24 acrylic on canvas

And more Canadian Pacific posters

More Canadian Pacfic posters

I do love the simple graphics.