This one's for you, Grandpa!

Right now at work I'm writing the Statement of Significance for the Calgary Fire Hall #1. Built in 1912, this is one of the best examples of early city fire halls in Alberta, and its historic features have been well-preserved in its present incarnation as a Budget Rent-a-Car facility. Here you can see 9 firemen standing on the high ladder, in this photo, probably from the late 1910s. This morning I went over to the Walterdale Theatre in Old Strathcona, which was originally built as a fire hall. It's all got me to thinking about my dad's dad, my grandfather, Glenn Orlo Francis. He died (I believe) in 1973 or '74, a few years before I was born. Grandpa Glenn was a career fireman in the Royal Canadian Air Force. I know him through old sepia photographs and his old war medals which I loved to look at when I was a kid, as well as my dad's stories about him. Apparently he was a master of games (pool, cards, chess) because in those days firemen did a lot of waiting around on nightwatches, etc. (Maybe they still do?) In any case, I'd like to imagine that maybe Grandpa Glenn stood on a ladder like this one time.

The day breaks
AWAY!
To greet the second
coming
in the night
of twilight
delight has set me
Free
to be a fish in
the sea
aqua fur
on the mermaid's dalmation
I'm glad
today existed! :)

(June 6, 2005 - 1:00 am)

Harlot

She was a harlot
with no shame
she spent her lot
and felt much pain
at last the little
became much
and she could no longer touch
the unseen treasures
that were hidden
from above
once uncovered
waiting to be loved
by the harlot
with no shame

(June 6, 2005 - 1:13 am)

Throughout the rediscovery
of ones own soul
the true reflection begins
It's healthy to not
only have to see dimly
but also clearly
way beyond the mirror
where Christ sees us
clearer than we
ever see ourselves
we have to look through
his eyes
and not our own
hardened lenses
and shaded hearts
remove the darts
from the target
and see fresh again
Focus
and glimpse into the light

Unlocked key remembers all too well
the moment it was
locked up in silence
never to speak again
until now
finally to realize
that very few words
mean anything at all
unless out of love
finally understanding
has set in for the key
and the time when the hostage was kept
is lost
and he chooses
to go where he may
and listen in silence

Deep Springs in the Desert

Last year I read this article in Vanity Fair magazine about Deep Springs College. (This was before Vanity Fair made the editorial decision to only put scantily clad starlets on its once venerable covers). I mean, I like reading Christopher Hitchens and Evgenia Peretz et al, but having to buy a magazine with the likes of Paris Hilton on the cover to do so is just a bit much! At least this month's covergirls are credible actors. Nevertheless, I've gone on a boycott of Vanity Fair until they get their class back.

What brought Deep Springs College to mind is that Fr. John H. just dropped me a note and happened to mention it, and I remembered reading the same article as well (he shares my thoughts on Vanity Fair, btw)! Anyway, Deep Springs is an all-male liberal arts college located on a self-sustaining cattle-ranch and alfalfa farm in California's High Desert. It is a two-year college that admits only 27 students each year, 13 in the first years and 14 in the second. Naturally, the student body forms a close community engaged in an intense educational project delineated by what Deep Springs' founder, L. L. Nunn, termed the "three pillars": academics, labor and self-governance. The principle underlying the three pillars is that manual labor and political deliberation are necessary supplements to the liberal arts in the training of future servants to humanity. Everyone has responsibilities that range from farm chores to butchering. Deep Springs is also home to a megawatt academic regime, and most graduates steeped in this unique desert experience go on to finish their degrees in the American ivy league, and, even better - become citizens committed to the public good. Peter Jennings' son Chris attended there, for instance. I have a feeling Thomas W. would be be pretty impressed with Deep Springs' manliness. Any student accepted (and the application process is rigorous) is given a full scholarship worth fifty grand a year. The more I contemplate the Liberal Arts tradition of education, and look at Deep Springs' philosophy and praxis, the more impressed I am with what they are doing.

"The desert has a deep personality; it has a voice. Great leaders in all ages have sought the desert and heard its voice. You can hear it if you listen, but you cannot hear it while in the midst of uproar and strife for material things. 'Gentlemen, for what came ye into the wilderness?' Not for conventional scholastic training; not for ranch life; not to become proficient in commercial or professional pursuits for personal gain. You came to prepare for a life of service, with the understanding that superior ability and generous purpose would be expected of you."

- Deep Springs College Founder L.L. Nunn, 1923

Why I Kinda Like Valentine's Day

What originally brought me to Edmonton was a job offer to work for several months on this
virtual exhibition about Valentine's Day. The job was this: 1) go to the British Museum for a month and negotiate with the staff there to use images of their objects (like this 15th century parade shield) for the exhibition, 2) write some of the sections of the exhibition, and 3) get to hang around one of the most interesting places in the world for several weeks while staying with some of my absolute favourite people,Sandra and Derek, who lived about a block away. All of these tasks were totally fascintating. It was great fun getting lost in the museum somewhere most days on my lunch hours. "Aha! So there's Codex Alexandrinus!" Perhaps the most strangely consoling and home-sickening parts of the time was one day running right into a West Coast totem pole! However, in the midst of the myriad distractions the museum and London had to offer, I actually learned a fair bit of lore about Valentine's Day from doing this work.... and, to my immeasurably greater surprise and delight, not long after moving to Edmonton - met my lovely wife. Thank Cupid! Thank St. Valentine (all of them)! Thank God Almighty!

I love you Krista. Thank you for being my permanent Valentine...

PS - Valentine's Day Recommendation: My favourite C.S. Lewis book is a re-telling of the myth of Cupid and Pyche entitled Til We Have Faces. Why not find a used copy and start it tonight?

Snappy Record Covers

While not all of these came from my parents' living room, a lot of them could have. One of my most enjoyable experiences of going to visit my Mom and Dad is bringing out some of these eclectic old LPs (many of them autographed) and having a listen. They actually have a lot more standard Gospel - the Torchmen, etc. This stuff is a bit more 'out there.'

And then there is the whole 'ventriloquism' genre of LP. Hmmm?

"Lullaby, and goodnight..." that's the Bugs Bunny/Brahms, right?

Here's Gabe and Amy's new little guy, Owen, our soon-to-be little Godson. They're all at home now in Chilliwack and getting settled in. Isn't he cute all tucked up here, with his touque and mittens? We love you already and can't wait to meet you!!!

Dinosaur Jr. is back together?

So how come I had no idea until now that Dinosaur Jr. had gotten back together? I guess last year they decided to reissue the old albums, and tour in the UK and Europe, and now that’s happening over here as well. I guess I am really out of the loop. But it makes me wonder if perhaps this is just "one of those reunion-nostalgia-filthy lucre tours." Ten years ago, Dinosaur was easily one of my top ten favourite bands, and the bass player Lou Barlow was equally my main musical hero when I was sixteen and seventeen. The story goes that J. Mascis and Barlow had a huge falling out, and this was largely responsible for the original departure of Barlow from Dinosaur Jr. to focus on what became his main band, Sebadoh.

Chaulk it up to adolescence, but I remember being totally enthralled by Sebadoh’s pop sensibility, particularly the album Bakesale (but I did also like Smash Your Head on the Punkrock, and developed a whole mythology around Lou Barlow. I remember saving every spare dollar to take on trips to Vancouver searching Track records for rarities and B-sides. And then Lou also had the side project Folk Implosion, that was also kind of interesting for a while. But I remember by the time I actually saw and met Lou Barlow, my enthusiasm had waned slightly, and I realized he was just an ordinary guy, making music and his way in the world. I still quite like Dinosaur Jr., though I haven't listened to them in a while. Maybe I will pull out my dusty old tapes of Little Fury Things... and yes, that is fury.

Florovsky on Tradition

"Tradition is not a principle striving to restore the past, using the past as a criterion for the present. Such a conception of tradition is rejected by history itself and by the consciousness of the Orthodox Church... Tradition is the constant abiding of the Spirit and not only the memory of words. Tradition is a charismatic, not a historical event"

- Father Georges Florovsky