A Character Study

After careful analysis, I have decided that this person and I cannot be friends.

Leonard

You have probably learned that the renowned poet-singer-songwriter, Leonard Cohen, passed away last week. I have never been an avid follower of him or any musician really. but I have always been aware of Cohen, ever since I was introduced to him in a Can Lit class around 1968-69.

Although enticing students to poetry through music has become somewhat commonplace, our prof broke the mold for me back then when she played two of Cohen's songs. This student had never hear of poetry presented that way and certainly hadn't heard of Leonard Cohen either. But I did hear Suzanne that day, which really stood out for me, I'm sure partly because I was going out with my own Susanne at the time (and still am).

There was another song, but I don't remember it. I thought that it might be So Long, Marianne, and it may have been, but it didn't ring any bells for me when I clicked it on YouTube.

Of course, his most famous song is Hallelujah. While I can't say that I've heard every version (who has?), I can say that I think kd lang's version has to be the best, and I don't seem to be alone in that opinion.

Ten years ago, I found myself watching Leonard Cohen being inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on television. kd lang sang for him at the ceremony, and it was astounding. If you watch the clip you will see Cohen and lang embracing after the performance. She also sang it at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, but this video is the one she sang for Cohen.



This page from the Toronto Star will link you to other performances of Hallelujah, including Bono's and Bon Jovi's, but lang's is simply the best in my very humble opinion. However, I also like the version  near the end of the list: the big, 1500 voice choir. What a thrill it would be to sing that song in that choir: a lifetime memory for those people, I'm sure!

I will, however, link two more videos below for those who are still here. The first is Cohen's own performance of Hallelujah and the second is very old footage of  him singing Suzanne.

Remembering Roy Brown

On this Remembrance Day, I am taking the opportunity to revisit the story of Carleton Place's great war hero, Roy Brown, the pilot credited with shooting down the dreaded Red Baron in WWI.

The Bridge Street mural, below, depicts the battle in which Brown allegedly shot down the Manfred von Richthofen, who actually was a German noble or baron. He also piloted a red plane; hence the nickname, Red Baron.

The image shows Roy on the tail of von Richthofen who himself was tailing Brown's friend and flying companion, Lieutenant Wop May. May had been in another altercation before being pursued by the Baron.

Although it is possible that Australian artillery actually shot down the Baron during the heated action, Brown was officially credited, at least by Canada. For this and other feats in battle has was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

The mural was officially unveiled in November 2012, and I understand that it takes its inspiration from the following painting of the battle by Ivan Berryman.

The town also pays homage to the pilot with an exhibit in the Moore House.

There is a corner with cutout, uniform, and information displays. To the left, the Baron has not been forgotten.

Although he didn't always live in this town, Roy was born in Carleton Place in 1893 in the house shown below. There is a small, commemorative plaque outside, but I was shooting with my wide angle lens on the day, so it was pointless to try to photograph it.

That lovely home (above) lies just around the corner from his grandparents' house (below), which is even a finer, old mansion.

In the left in the above photo, you begin to see the mill that his grandfather owned just across the street from the house, and there is more mill to see in the following photos.

Now, converted into apartments, it was then the Boulton Brown Mill. The grandparents chose to live right opposite the mill despite whatever sights and sounds that must have been emitted from a busy mill. Back then, without access to the kind of transportation that we enjoy today, it was actually considered to be advantageous to live close to your work.

When I searched to update my recollections about the mill, my own previous Flickr posting came up, with this photo that I took last winter.

Finally, a photo of the other side of the mill (all the buildings to the right) from the bridge over the river.

With all of these photos and bits of history, I may have digressed a little from what I intended to be a Remembrance Day memorial to the town's old was hero, but the information all seemed to be connected and, therefore, pertinent. And you know that I can scarcely resist including a photo or six in my posts.

Of course, there is much more information readily available online, including Wikipedia's page on Roy Brown.

The Kids

There was a time when this blog became mostly about the kids, especially when they were young and we were babysitting regularly. But life moves on, and I don't post so much about them anymore. However, I guess it's okey dokey to update every now and then.

They spend three mornings before school and three afternoons after school with us. They are at the age where they tend to do their own thing, but we still have good times of interaction.

One morning recently, JJ took a break from his usual drawing and wanted to play games. He mostly dotes on Sue, and here they are playing a memory game where you turn up on image and try to remember its mate. If you fail, you turn both images back over.

When Sue had to attend to other things, he asked if I would play.

We had some fun.

Then, Danica had a sleepover with us and thought that I should teach her something. I had a kids book on Charles Darwin, so we read that and discussed evolution for a bit. We watched a short video on the subject, and then, somehow, we got onto famous paintings. She also likes to get her back scritched.

Something tickled our funny bones.

Just before an already somewhat late bedtime, she did a bit of sketching.

We do have some good times.

Down in the Valley

The valley of this title, Down in the Valley, is for Calder Valley in Yorkshire as represented in the tv series, Happy Valley.

Sue and I watched the first series on Netflix sometime last year and were elated recently when it popped up that there was a new, second series. Since it had been awhile since we had watched the first series, we reviewed that from beginning to end before continuing on to the second season. So, all in all, we enjoyed 12 hours of suspenseful and excellent tv, each season comprising six hour long episodes.

Let's face it the Brits do mysteries such as Inspector Lewis and Inspector Banks, to name just two, ever so well. I can't think of any American series that come up to the mark. Prime Suspect is a case in point. The British version with Helen Mirren was compelling: the American series was not and lasted for only 13 episodes. Some of you might also remember the British Cracker as being ... um ... crackerjack and the American version disappointing.

But as I began to say, the Brits do mysteries really well, and Happy Valley is no exception. Starring Sarah Lancashire (also seen in Netflix', Last Tango in Halifax) as the strong and determined police sergeant, Catherine Cawood and supported by an excellent cast, I predict that this series will absorb you as it did me.

The main antagonist is played by James Norton who in no way resembles the sincerely good vicar character that he plays in the PBS series, Grantchester. He is the main villain in series 1 and still lurks menacingly in the second series. I can hardly fathom that it is the same actor.

I don't mean to go on, but it strikes me that Happy Valley could be easily overlooked as you are searching through Netflix fare, and it really really shouldn't be. I just thought I would pass it along, for what it's worth.

Besides, I needed something to post.

Late Autumn at Riverside

After much less than conducive photographic weather, there were clear skies during which I found a few minutes to drive to the park. My hope was to catch some colour lingering on some of the trees, and I did: not on those three adorable, little red maple trees, which were done, but lots of yellow and some orange and well as quite a blanket on the ground.

You Have a Good Girl There

How could I not be proud of this girl?

Danica is about as sweet and caring a child as anyone could possibly be.

Here is a FB message that a mother of one of Danica's classmates sent to Sha on the weekend.

Good Morning! I just wanted to let you know that your daughter has been very sweet to Brenda. Brenda's two 'best' friends have been rather unkind to her this school year. Brenda was having a particularly difficult week and your sweet Danica was very supportive and provided Brenda with comfort. You have a good girl there.

Yes, we do have a very good girl. She has a big and compassionate heart, that one.

And I get hugs too.