Passchendaele and other stuff
It's going up to 8˚C today. All those 6 foot piles of snow are going to start melting all over the place. It's going to be warm! And very wet, because it's supposed to rain as well! Crazy.
We watched Passchendaele ("Passion-dale") last night. I don't know if it's made it to Australia or not but if it does I really recommend it. It's a Canadian film written and directed by Paul Gross - yes, the sexy Mountie from Due South - and he plays the lead role as well. It's about the Canadian Corps that fought at Passchendaele in 1917, which is near Vimy Ridge. I know, I'd never heard of it either - I'd say that Australians know about as much about Vimy Ridge and the Canadian contribution as Canadians know about Australia/NZ and Gallipoli. That is, bugger all. (Except for Mum who knows just about everything!) Vimy Ridge is Canada's Gallipoli, as a point of comparison - and of pride, since they held it when no one else could. Anyway, Passchendaele is otherwise known as "the third battle of Ypres", if that helps (Vimy was the first? I really should know this!).
It's a really lovely story, about Sergeant Michael Dunne who returns to Calgary after Vimy to recover from his wounds. He's diagnosed with shell shock - which to many people in the army translates to "coward" - and given desk work. He fell in love with the nurse who cared for him, Sarah Mann, whose father died at Vimy Ridge. Her younger brother David wants to join up but he has asthma. His girlfriend's father is a bastard of a man and a doctor, and hoping to get rid of him he gives David medical clearance to sign up. Michael ends up lying his way back into the army and to France to keep an eye on him for Sarah's sake, and they get sent to Passchendaele in one of those suicide missions to man the line.
There's more to it than that but that's the gist. It delves into propaganda, racial hatred, and other concerns of the time. It's very well written and acted and feels very real. Paul Gross looks as handsome as ever and God can that man wear a uniform! There's some subtle humour, mostly in situations and the way the actors delivered their lines, but the trench humour is largely missing. It's sad but not particularly heavy - more Saving Private Ryan than Acropolis Now. And there are some gorgeous shots of the Albertan landscape.
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Found out where I'll be going for my second practicum: Agincourt CI, which is in Scarborough. Which is in the East. I'm in the West side of the city. I can get there on the TTC but it's going to be a bloody long ride, taking the subway all the way east to the end of the line, and then switching to the Rapid Train to the Midland stop. I'll probably have to leave home at 7 a.m. or something. A couple of people in my cohort class went to this school last practicum, so I can ask them what's it's like. The Assistant Teacher I'm assigned to had glowing reviews on ratemyteacher.com - only two, but still. One said she "made History interesting", which is what you want to hear, and that she's very knowledgable.
Canadian history in particular can be extremely boring if you approach it in the usual, "white" way. Mostly politics and nothing exciting happens. A lot of Canadians had history taught to them in that way, it seems, which is a shame. I'm still studying it, myself. The interesting stuff is in native history, immigrants, black Canadians, women, science, art etc. I know, that's kinda obvious, but the textbooks are still written from a predominantly white, male, middle/upper class perspective. We've been looking into it, see. One of our assignments is to put together an alternate timeline. My group is doing workers/labourers. Which reminds me - I really need to make a start on that!
This practicum runs from beginning of March to the 3rd of April - it has March Break in the middle, which is a week off; good thing too, because we're supposed to take over three classes this time round and I'll need the time to plan and all!
The May internship is pretty much sorted, as well - finally. I spent an hour and a half on Friday chatting to the woman who's coordinating it; I just have to get my paperwork sorted and signed. I'm going to one of the Pathways to Education sites and I'm going up there on Monday evening to meet people and check it out. It's a bit far but worth it.
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I've been hankering for this lemon slice I once made with a friend years ago when we were at high school, and I finally remembered to google it and found this recipe:
No Bake Lemon Slice
1 pkt/250g Marie biscuits, finely crushed
1/2 tin sweetened condensed milk
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter, melted
Mix biscuits and coconut together, add lemon zest, melted butter and sweetened condensed milk. Press into foil-lined slab tin and chill.
Ice with 1 and 1/2 cups icing sugar mixed with the juice and zest of one large or two small lemons. Chill. Before serving, cut into fingers.
Very healthy I know, but I remember it being delicious and I have a craving for something lemony! And it's dead easy to make. I don't have all the ingredients though but I'll need to get out of the house in a bit - preferably before the streets flood!
We watched Passchendaele ("Passion-dale") last night. I don't know if it's made it to Australia or not but if it does I really recommend it. It's a Canadian film written and directed by Paul Gross - yes, the sexy Mountie from Due South - and he plays the lead role as well. It's about the Canadian Corps that fought at Passchendaele in 1917, which is near Vimy Ridge. I know, I'd never heard of it either - I'd say that Australians know about as much about Vimy Ridge and the Canadian contribution as Canadians know about Australia/NZ and Gallipoli. That is, bugger all. (Except for Mum who knows just about everything!) Vimy Ridge is Canada's Gallipoli, as a point of comparison - and of pride, since they held it when no one else could. Anyway, Passchendaele is otherwise known as "the third battle of Ypres", if that helps (Vimy was the first? I really should know this!).
It's a really lovely story, about Sergeant Michael Dunne who returns to Calgary after Vimy to recover from his wounds. He's diagnosed with shell shock - which to many people in the army translates to "coward" - and given desk work. He fell in love with the nurse who cared for him, Sarah Mann, whose father died at Vimy Ridge. Her younger brother David wants to join up but he has asthma. His girlfriend's father is a bastard of a man and a doctor, and hoping to get rid of him he gives David medical clearance to sign up. Michael ends up lying his way back into the army and to France to keep an eye on him for Sarah's sake, and they get sent to Passchendaele in one of those suicide missions to man the line.
There's more to it than that but that's the gist. It delves into propaganda, racial hatred, and other concerns of the time. It's very well written and acted and feels very real. Paul Gross looks as handsome as ever and God can that man wear a uniform! There's some subtle humour, mostly in situations and the way the actors delivered their lines, but the trench humour is largely missing. It's sad but not particularly heavy - more Saving Private Ryan than Acropolis Now. And there are some gorgeous shots of the Albertan landscape.
---
Found out where I'll be going for my second practicum: Agincourt CI, which is in Scarborough. Which is in the East. I'm in the West side of the city. I can get there on the TTC but it's going to be a bloody long ride, taking the subway all the way east to the end of the line, and then switching to the Rapid Train to the Midland stop. I'll probably have to leave home at 7 a.m. or something. A couple of people in my cohort class went to this school last practicum, so I can ask them what's it's like. The Assistant Teacher I'm assigned to had glowing reviews on ratemyteacher.com - only two, but still. One said she "made History interesting", which is what you want to hear, and that she's very knowledgable.
Canadian history in particular can be extremely boring if you approach it in the usual, "white" way. Mostly politics and nothing exciting happens. A lot of Canadians had history taught to them in that way, it seems, which is a shame. I'm still studying it, myself. The interesting stuff is in native history, immigrants, black Canadians, women, science, art etc. I know, that's kinda obvious, but the textbooks are still written from a predominantly white, male, middle/upper class perspective. We've been looking into it, see. One of our assignments is to put together an alternate timeline. My group is doing workers/labourers. Which reminds me - I really need to make a start on that!
This practicum runs from beginning of March to the 3rd of April - it has March Break in the middle, which is a week off; good thing too, because we're supposed to take over three classes this time round and I'll need the time to plan and all!
The May internship is pretty much sorted, as well - finally. I spent an hour and a half on Friday chatting to the woman who's coordinating it; I just have to get my paperwork sorted and signed. I'm going to one of the Pathways to Education sites and I'm going up there on Monday evening to meet people and check it out. It's a bit far but worth it.
---
I've been hankering for this lemon slice I once made with a friend years ago when we were at high school, and I finally remembered to google it and found this recipe:
No Bake Lemon Slice
1 pkt/250g Marie biscuits, finely crushed
1/2 tin sweetened condensed milk
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup desiccated coconut
125g butter, melted
Mix biscuits and coconut together, add lemon zest, melted butter and sweetened condensed milk. Press into foil-lined slab tin and chill.
Ice with 1 and 1/2 cups icing sugar mixed with the juice and zest of one large or two small lemons. Chill. Before serving, cut into fingers.
Very healthy I know, but I remember it being delicious and I have a craving for something lemony! And it's dead easy to make. I don't have all the ingredients though but I'll need to get out of the house in a bit - preferably before the streets flood!