Saturday, In The Park, I Think It Was The Fourth of July
crossposted from Lee Edward McIlmoyle's blog
Okay, the title is almost completely irrelevant. So what. It’s a classic. Enjoy.
I apologize. I meant to post yesterday, but was feeling really winded and spent much of the afternoon asleep in bed. Chest Muck Plague is lingering slightly, but mostly gone. Still spitting up goop, but far less frequently, and with little pain. Thank you Benylin Mucus and Phlegm.
In other, happier news, we just about have the PB staff meeting thing sorted. Got our date and most of our attendees committed. Just gotta secure the venue, which shouldn’t be too much trouble if we can just get word back on one more choice in the next couple of days. More work to do writing a press release, but other than that, I just have to make some new prints of my project ideas and get the presentation ready.
Speaking of venues for meetings, the Stinson Community Association has chosen Radius restaurant for their January Executive Meeting, which is open for the public to ‘observe’. This is essentially following the Durand Neighbourhood Association Board Meeting format, which might seem a shade undemocratic to some, but in truth, it’s a really good thing, as these meetings used to be held privately, and with no reproduction of meeting minutes for the membership to oversee. So as you can see, it’s a good thing that we can now sit in and see what deliberations are made, even if there is no room for open discussion during the meeting. I’m happy to say, it’s truly a new day in the Stinson Hood. Good luck, gang! Let me know how it turns out.
FYI: Here is the SCA Board Meeting posted agenda. I encourage everyone who is even mildly interested in the happenings in Stinson to attend. I’m considering attending, health and ‘good taste’* permitting.
In still other news, I haven’t quite gotten my wind back enough to focus on writing. It’s been at least two weeks since I did any serious writing, and this is the year I have promised myself to really hit home the idea that I am a professional writer. so I’m going to grab a shower, find some clean clothes if I can, and plunk myself down to write for at least an hour today, even if nothing comes out. Gotta get back into the habit.
I read an OpEd today on the CBC site which criticized Neil Young for taking a hyperbolic stance on the Tar Sands development at Fort McMurray. My comment on the issue was as follows:
Rhetorical overstatement may seem unfair (unbalanced), but you can’t fight corporate behemoths by throwing pebbles at them. The war of words that starts these things off has to be a grand overstatement, to drive home the magnitude of the oversight involved in allowing these projects to continue. We have data flooding in daily, telling us these things are horrific for the environment and for people living too close to them, but because we’ve effectively muzzled our environmental scientists in Canada, that data is all foreign, and so we continue to think ‘it can’t happen here’. That’s what harper’s government is counting on. It’s up to us and to aging rock stars who like to shoot their mouths off occasionally to bring these oversights back into the public sphere for some real debate. Rex may have a valid point that Neil is, as usual, being hyperbolic, but that’s been his stance of choice for over forty five years, which says something about what people expect from their socially conscious media icons. We don’t expect them to be fair. We expect them to be loud.
And finally, I just want to add my voice to the din of people calling out against Tom Hanks not being nominated for an Oscar this year for his title portrayal in Captain Phillips, which even my beer drinking buddies think is a tour de force performance.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve got today. Thank you for reading. Have a good day.
Lee.
* my wife points out that two or three of the agenda points somewhat indirectly affect me personally, and it might conflate issues if I were to attend, even if I remained silent, as would doubtless be the preferred stance from all attendees. I simply want to show my support for their decision to open the meeting to the public, so they feel encouraged to continue to do so. It’s a good model, and I want to see it instituted permanently.
Okay, the title is almost completely irrelevant. So what. It’s a classic. Enjoy.
I apologize. I meant to post yesterday, but was feeling really winded and spent much of the afternoon asleep in bed. Chest Muck Plague is lingering slightly, but mostly gone. Still spitting up goop, but far less frequently, and with little pain. Thank you Benylin Mucus and Phlegm.
In other, happier news, we just about have the PB staff meeting thing sorted. Got our date and most of our attendees committed. Just gotta secure the venue, which shouldn’t be too much trouble if we can just get word back on one more choice in the next couple of days. More work to do writing a press release, but other than that, I just have to make some new prints of my project ideas and get the presentation ready.
Speaking of venues for meetings, the Stinson Community Association has chosen Radius restaurant for their January Executive Meeting, which is open for the public to ‘observe’. This is essentially following the Durand Neighbourhood Association Board Meeting format, which might seem a shade undemocratic to some, but in truth, it’s a really good thing, as these meetings used to be held privately, and with no reproduction of meeting minutes for the membership to oversee. So as you can see, it’s a good thing that we can now sit in and see what deliberations are made, even if there is no room for open discussion during the meeting. I’m happy to say, it’s truly a new day in the Stinson Hood. Good luck, gang! Let me know how it turns out.
FYI: Here is the SCA Board Meeting posted agenda. I encourage everyone who is even mildly interested in the happenings in Stinson to attend. I’m considering attending, health and ‘good taste’* permitting.
In still other news, I haven’t quite gotten my wind back enough to focus on writing. It’s been at least two weeks since I did any serious writing, and this is the year I have promised myself to really hit home the idea that I am a professional writer. so I’m going to grab a shower, find some clean clothes if I can, and plunk myself down to write for at least an hour today, even if nothing comes out. Gotta get back into the habit.
I read an OpEd today on the CBC site which criticized Neil Young for taking a hyperbolic stance on the Tar Sands development at Fort McMurray. My comment on the issue was as follows:
Rhetorical overstatement may seem unfair (unbalanced), but you can’t fight corporate behemoths by throwing pebbles at them. The war of words that starts these things off has to be a grand overstatement, to drive home the magnitude of the oversight involved in allowing these projects to continue. We have data flooding in daily, telling us these things are horrific for the environment and for people living too close to them, but because we’ve effectively muzzled our environmental scientists in Canada, that data is all foreign, and so we continue to think ‘it can’t happen here’. That’s what harper’s government is counting on. It’s up to us and to aging rock stars who like to shoot their mouths off occasionally to bring these oversights back into the public sphere for some real debate. Rex may have a valid point that Neil is, as usual, being hyperbolic, but that’s been his stance of choice for over forty five years, which says something about what people expect from their socially conscious media icons. We don’t expect them to be fair. We expect them to be loud.
And finally, I just want to add my voice to the din of people calling out against Tom Hanks not being nominated for an Oscar this year for his title portrayal in Captain Phillips, which even my beer drinking buddies think is a tour de force performance.
Anyway, that’s what I’ve got today. Thank you for reading. Have a good day.
Lee.
* my wife points out that two or three of the agenda points somewhat indirectly affect me personally, and it might conflate issues if I were to attend, even if I remained silent, as would doubtless be the preferred stance from all attendees. I simply want to show my support for their decision to open the meeting to the public, so they feel encouraged to continue to do so. It’s a good model, and I want to see it instituted permanently.