Category: Festival

The Smalls

Robert Smalls: American politician, publisher, businessman and marine pilot, who rescued a number of enslaved persons by boat.

The Inimitable Biggie Smalls, the Notorious B.I.G., he whose suit is in the entrance of the Music Museum in Seattle, (it is scary big, no kidding, I’ve seen it with me een) known to his momma as Christopher George Latore Wallace

Christian Smalls – the man who led the drive to unionize an Amazon warehouse. The Amazon execs are reputed to have said of him, in assessing his chances, “He is not smart or articulate.”

And that is PRECISELY why Amazon is going to lose.

Rob was here

One of Jeff’s oldest buddies came over for beer, ‘za and March Madness, and all was delightful. It had been so long since I’d seen him that I mistook him for the pizza delivery person, and of course this immediately makes me remember a Supernatural (2005) trope. He’s retired, and I’m so happy for him.

Current count 6620, two kudos overnight. Sad boys are sad right mOm (I’ve been sending her updates a day at a time so she knows what I’m talking about.)

Various things are annoying me this morning. I’m thinking “Should I vent my spleen? or should I just go about the tasks of daily living?” And you know what, I think I’ll just put it down.

 

 

happy Christmas everyone

Yup, a day whose importance has deflated like a cluster of birthday balloons blown into a ditch has arrived again. I haven’t wrapped a present or done any running around. I haven’t prepped a turkey or assembled the mass of vegetables to peel that oppresses the groaning board. The dining room table remains covered in filk memorabilia, craft cruft and a thousand piece puzzle (Jeff finished the edge). I don’t have to work, be responsible, be hospitable, put on a spread, worry about snax, worry about entertainment, worry about a gathering during a pandemic.

Rob W showed up briefly yesterday with firefly and snowpiercer comics! We mourned for his coworker, killed while moving poles for an electric bus (by another worker in their bus). translink is OF COURSE being remarkably silent about it and Rob, who drove bus in this part of solh temexw (remember? pronounced Sole te mawk) said he always hated doing it because you’re outside the bus and even more vulnerable than usual. I gave him a piece of Sugru (rubber moldable glue, incredible stuff I’m sure he’ll find a use for it) and two KN95 masks, one of which he promptly broke, so I’m glad I gave him two. I provided him with the address at Caspell Junction. Then he mentioned he’s got heart surgery on the docket but not scheduled yet (ablation, ouch). I warned him that COVID is severely fucking with surgery waits. Then we mourned for Tom for a while, exchanged a couple of flying anecdotes  (mine about writing a fanfic with soaring in it, and him about ‘landing out’ as in right out of Germany (he was paragliding) and walking home from France, somehow without attracting the attention of the gendarmes) and parted on friendly terms. We were both masked the whole time he was here and Jeff closed his door. Yes, I know showing up unannounced during the plague is not optimal, but what is in these parlous times and I did immediate upgrade his mask.

We both spent a minute just flapping our gums over the last communique about the plague from the government and Doc Henry. Like who the fuck cares, the hospitals are full, N95 masks are unavailable except at ‘this is what is charged during wartime’ prices, people are lining up to be tested using inadequate masks, test kits are unavailable, disabled people are left at the side of society to die unimpeded and thousands of people are at risk of freezing to death on the streets of Vancouver this week. Yup, Merry Christmas we get wished from a bubble of vacuity. Nothing she says means a fucking thing as long as universities and schools are forced to stay open. Maybe she hopes this omicron wave will burn out in six weeks like it did in Gauteng province. I’ve long since given up trying to understand the rationale for the bs.

I picked up a few treats yesterday while I was out getting my BP meds at Guardian (jammed past pandemic standards with anxious people seeking booster shots…) which included FLORENTINES four of them, strangely available at the butcher shop on 6th, Jeff asked for something caramelly and that was as close as I could get, a beefsteak for a steak and eggs brekky this am, six Timmy Hos donuts, and two handpies (strawberry rhubarb) for Jeff. So that obviously means that I walked two k in the slush and muck yesterday but the traction wasn’t bad and I was having a good balance day so walking home a bunch of groceries while I got a little out of breath was certainly manageable. I leave the walking stick by the door in case I’m having a wobbly day, but I’m getting a lot fewer of those…

Okay, time to get the steak out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature. I think I’m just going to bake it, the idea of standing to cook it for any length of time simply appalls. I’m about to blow through two days worth of salt consumption in one go, better make it worthwhile….

¯\_(?)_/¯

how lucky

  • I still have parents
  • I like them and I’m still talking to them
  • They’ve been married, as of today, 65 years.
  • Isn’t that ludicrous?
  • They certainly think so. Where the hell did 65 years go?
  • And I’m lucky that I have the technology to pick up a phone and call them and felicitate them on 65 years of happiness.
  • How lucky is that?

Small shop & collapse

Well my brief burst of energy has imploded. I’m feeling small and tangled-up and misanthropic, but many things, including Buster’s training schedule, are exactly as they should be. But…. blueberry turnovers, for the first time, so that was tasty.

Slept from 9:30 pm to 6 am this morning! I am well rested but not energetic, what gives, body.

Heading to Victoria next week with some descendants, unless something hinders. Fingers crossed for a good visit.

This is for me mam.

Still LOVING “Wanted”, coming up on the end of the show, 3rd season.

And from the JOSUS FUKING CHRIS IT’S A PANDEMIC PEOPLE department…

OTTAWA — The Public Service Alliance of Canada president says he “will not stand for the termination” of federal public servants who refuse to get vaccinated, after Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau warned of “consequences” for those civil servants.

In an interview with CTV News, Chris Aylward said “it’s very concerning to us when national party leaders are making statements around discipline around terminations when it comes to these vaccinations. That is totally unacceptable to us.”

Aylward, who represents more than 160,000 federal public servants, stated that he supports the government’s stance that all federal public servants should be vaccinated. But he said unvaccinated employees will require accommodations to keep their jobs.

  • CTV News, from website 10;08 am PST 18 Aug 2021

An Alabama doctor is tired of helping people who refuse to protect themselves and others – so he’s no longer taking appointments with anti-vaxxers.

Mobile, Ala., physician Dr. Jason Valentine posted a photo on Facebook in which he’s seen standing in front of a sign that reads “Effective Oct. 1, 2021, Dr. Valentine will no longer see patients that are not vaccinated against COVID-19.”

from

By 
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
AUG 17, 2021  5:23 PM
Today is the 40th anniversary of the day Paul and I went to housekeeping. I emailed him asking him if he wants to get takeout for lunch. His response was that he has appointments so we’ll do it tomorrow.
copyright Masato Mattori

I am not going to spend a lot of time yoinking your chain about Afghanistan. The politics of exploitation and colonization stretch into pre-history and I’m not a pro. Therefore I will stick with the present.

  1. If you have the money or donations in kind, please give generously to Afghan refugee and aid organizations in Canada or your jurisdiction. They are more clued in to what is going on and what is needed than I am and I’d rather give money to an Afghani woman in Canada, who will most intelligently disburse what she can to current refugees, than try to give a dime to international aid organizations, given the difficulties with freight at the moment. If your hope is lively donate directly to Afghan Red Crescent
  2. Please, if you have the stomach for it, read this: Stonekettle’s comments about Afghanistan.
  3. Please consider sponsoring or assisting in sponsoring a refugee, or asking your house of worship to sponsor someone. The one time I signed sponsorship papers for an individual it was the brother in law of a co-worker. I signed up for being financially responsible for him (as did another co-worker, who awesome as they are will remain nameless here) but never had to expend cash because he was working and self supporting two months after landing here (despite his considerable health problems, a consequence of the privations he endured as a refugee).

Birthday

Jeff’s Bday celebration yesterday. We had an untroubled day at home (after a small shop) and went walking with the king. Buster was SO HAPPY to spend a couple of hours on the deck with us.

Today me and Mike and Jarmo and Susana are going to go to Hastings Sauna and then I’m going to hang out over at Mike’s. This is like THE MOST SOCIAL INTERACTION Mike has had in many long months, I imagine he’ll be practically giddy. I know seeing the Dalai Jarmo is going to make me giddy, and I will definitely talk to Susana, which given that she runs an LTC in BC means that I’ll be getting a ground zero response story to COVID over the last 18 months. There’s also family stuff going on in the background which won’t make it to the blog but is distinctly and prayerfully on my mind.

Load of laundry is on.

I cut about six inches off my hair, but not evenly, so now I look like even more subsistence than usual.

My new crown aches almost all the time. I sure wish it didn’t, at least it’s not keeping me awake as much. It got bashed around quite a lot and I guess it’s still sore.

wotta meal

four perfect things:

seared ahi tuna

homemade wasabi sauce

pan seared yellow peppers

thai rice with a macédoine of vegetables

Plated beautifully and served red hot.

Plus nearbeer and some OG Kush

WHAT A MEAL

THEN I slept in until 8:30. Mike bought a weighted blanket. I’ve had coffee and I think eggs are happening and life in the eyrie is once again glorious.

crick don’t rise

If all goes well I’m going over to Mike’s on Sunday to help feast him for his birthday.

 

SO

EXCITE

 

Orthogonal note ANFSCD

Schmigadoon is great fun. The way the non-musical people wince when the broadway types open their mouths to sing is hilarious.

shown below is Karloff and Lugosi – remember in Bela Lugosi is the king around here I refer to his cigar habit – mock fighting over a prop during filming.

Pic a nic

The picnic on the lawn of Alexis’s building yesterday WAS FANTASTIC. I got recipes. Keith drove me and Paul, Alex and Katie went in another car. kMike didn’t go, he was bagged.

Made a mushroom omelette this morning; toasted sourdough muffins and put out some veggie platter veggies and we ate on the deck like civilized folks.

She’s not a family member but I sure looked at her picture a lot as a kid. She’s 84 in 2021 and looks fantastic in this roughly ten year old photo.

famjam inbound

Forecast for Sunday is partly cloudy and 21 degrees at this point, which seems favourable for a picnic. So unless that changes, the famjam is ON for 4pm Sunday.

THIS FROM ALEX

WE ARE GO FOR FAMILY PICNIC ON THE BEACH ON SUNDAY

I’ve got a *tiny* red spot/bruise in the crook of my left arm. The phlebotomist was very good. I always donate on the left. It felt weird the other day to have a nurse check me for track marks. I don’t feel off but I’m not 100 percent perky again yet – I had another very solid and reborative (*not* rebarbative lol) sleep.  Yesterday I ran two loads of laundry and made tuna salad for a late lunch (ingredients, tuna, real mayo, capers, scallions and artichokes all chopped into the tuna, over iceberg lettuce salad and I’ll thank you very much to nod when I tell you it was good) and watched a fair amount of TV – two episodes of Elementary, can you believe we started a rewatch again so soon after the end of the last rewatch? We did a shop in the morning and bought no chicken, pork or beef. I watered the dogwood and the cedar hedge. Kim the Landlord had the cedar hedge put in and she’s attached to it and I try to help keep it healthy.

Now I know I’ve been mentioning mascarpone cheese a lot, because we’ve been eating it every week. I got it for myself as an eating treat for the first time about six months ago and now it gets used for any number of wild purposes, like being added to Indian food to take the heat down or being used as dip for crackers. My current favourite treatment for it is to chop pecans and dried apricots into it and add home made chocolate syrup and whomp it up and eat it like a parfait, but mostly I just put it on bagels, a truly lovely application, especially for a sweeter bagel like a blueberry bagel. I have converted Jeff into a mascarpone fan. The other day he referred to it as ‘massacre pony’ cheese and I thought I was going to die laughing, because it sounds exactly like the kind of mishearing I applied to many things when I was a kid.

I have learned – directly from Katie – that she anticipates the birth of a boy child. The happy couple is fine either way. “I’ll raise strong men and get awesome daughters in law” she said and I laughed.   I don’t have facebook or I would have known a couple of days ago. She calls me on the land line, all apologetic, because I don’t have a cell phone or she’d have texted me. Isn’t modern parenting wild?

Now I got myself all wound up over mascarpone cheese, so I toasted a blueberry bagel, and one half of it is on Jeff’s desk for when he comes back from looking for something downstairs and the other half is being consumed with tea, Yorkshire Gold, hot, by yours truly.

Did I ever tell you guys that for months and months I could hear what sounded like somebody tunnelling under the house, but it’s stopped? I don’t know what it was but it kept me awake LOTS and now it’s gone. Hopefully their ‘extra space for renters’ or ‘panic room’ or ‘torture chamber’ or ‘sex dungeon’ or ‘man cave’ is all finished now. Still I persist in wondering. I figured it couldn’t be real since Jeff couldn’t hear it. Maybe it was particular power tool oriented rats?

Still no envelope of suitable size and robustness for ontie Mary. I need to get up off my ass and go ‘into town’ (lol less than ten stops on the 123 bus more like) and get some.

Did I ever tell you guys that like most people who are on the spectrum and or have ADD I have tons of sensory issues around food and drink? because I grew up in a household where ‘suffer in silence’ was actually a family motto I’ve long since learned to power through the overwhelming majority of them (not painfully or ruining my day, just as a going to the dentist kind of powering through it), but one thing that has stuck with me since m early teens is that tea is supposed to be as hot as you can make it and to be drunk just shy of scalding; I sometimes reheat tea five times if I keep forgetting to drink it when it’s the right temperature…. the spectrum makes me need it a certain way, the ADD prevents it, it’s like there’s two witless mofos trying to control my sensorium all day. Spectrum makes me want to be upstanding and meet my commitments or SHAME of GREAT SHAME will ensure; ADD says fuck ya, smokes weed and ends up hitting the twangy box in the guest room while Jeff flees to the safety of his EBM Dark Club Music on headphones.

 

leafhopper earrings from @kanakirisuzume1’s twitter feed

lovely meal

I called Keith to ask him when it would be convenient to take over his birthday presents (three different sizes of baking pan, a new paring knife and precut parchment paper (he uses it a lot for baked meals)) and his response was to invite me and Jeff over for almond crusted chicken, savoury whipped sweet potatoes and green beans. Meat and two veg, how restorative. Keith was quite appreciative of the gifts.

We picked up a tiramisu loaf from Langley Farm Market and proceeded over there. Both of us have been avoiding rush hour traffic so it was a lot like the front gate of hell, trying to get down 10th Ave yesterday at quarter to six. Fortunately we deked north onto 2nd instead of going all the way to Cumberland. Katie and Alex came out to say hi and we sat and ate a family meal at Leo M.’s old kitchen table, and man…. that was good. In attendance kMike, Keith, Kate, Alex (he didn’t eat), Paul, me and Jeff.

There’s some talk of Jeff going to Victoria; pisses me off that they won’t let us stay in our cars. I’ll be here with Buster boy.

everyone was here yesterday

Prior to all this Paul and I had a lovely walk at Fraser Foreshore. We saw two adults and one juvenile bald eagle play fighting in the trees and making a hell of a racket at the same time, it was quite funny. Parking lots were bung full, we had to park miles from the lot.

I decided there was no reason for Paul to clean up after his own party so after a brief consult with Jeff we threw Paul’s Father’s Day celebration here.

Paul came over first, then Katie and Alex came over next, then kMike, then the kids (those three) left, then Mike came, then Paul left, then Keith showed up and Paul came back and then Keith and Paul left and then Mike left. Nobody was driving drunk at all, like, no one.

Seafood salad consisted of, here, have a green salad (iceberg lettuce, salad mix of seeds and cranberries, heritage tomatoes sliced, purple onion in relatively large chunks, grated carrot, broccolini) and put over top of it your choice of Argentinian prawns, Digby Scallops, or Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. This was 123 dollars of seafood, mostly salmon cause I got two fillets. I know, insane. There’s just enough leftovers for salmon pate tomorrow morning with mascarpone cheese, and we got lemon juice and capers. Anyway, I cooked the shellfish on the stovetop and baked the salmon for 20 minutes at 400. On part of the salmon I put a ‘ground pecans cut half and half with maple syrup’ crust. kMike hosed that shit down like a good thing, and declared it quite fine. (I had a bit.)

Alex had to go home to eat, that’s why he left.

Mike serenaded me on the back deck in the golden hour.

quite inebriated me