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Most liveable

November 29, 2023 in Life in BC | Permalink

I have previously made mention within these meanderings of the fact that The Girl and I do not routinely read print newspapers here in Canada – a definite and somewhat unexpected change from our previous practice in the UK. Yes – I still read The Guardian and The Observer online – but sitting up in bed of a Sunday morning with an iPad on one’s lap is just not the same as having the multiple sections of a paper strewn around over the duvet.

However – just the other day The Girl returned from a few days in Vancouver where she had been attending an Engagement (what you and I might call a conference) bearing a copy of The Globe and Mail that she had picked up on the ferry. Now – if we did read a paper here regularly it would probably be The Globe and Mail – of which Wikipedia says thus:

“The Globe and Mail is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada’s most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it falls slightly behind the Toronto Star in overall weekly circulation because the Star publishes a Sunday edition, whereas the Globe does not. The Globe and Mail is regarded by some as Canada’s ‘newspaper of record'”.

Irregardless…

The reason for mentioning this at all might just be discernible from the accompanying image – of the front page of this particular issue. The piece referred to concerns the 2023 Canada’s Most Livable Cities survey – in which good old Victoria came out as the overall number one city.

Yaay Victoria!

If one is to accept that the data is accurate (and can indeed be interpreted in the way the the Globe and Mail survey does) Victoria comes out top in many categories – with the notable exceptions of the cost of housing, (which is uncomfortably high for many folk) and healthcare (where, as I have previously noted, there is a continuing shortage of doctors). There are those who gripe about such studies and one should certainly not overlook the problems that many localities face, but I believe that the great majority of those who live here are aware that they are inhabitants of a beautiful city and that to be so is a considerable blessing.

 

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Some temporal rituals

November 25, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidThe Encyclopedia Britannica (online edition) says on the subject of rituals:

“A complete analysis of ritual would also include its relation to art, architecture, and the specific objects used in ritual such as specific forms of ritual dress. All of these components are found in ritual contexts, and all of them are nonverbal in structure and meaning.”

“Huh!” – I hear you exclaim… “Where is he going with this?”

“Patience!” – say I. The encyclopedia continues:

“Most rituals mark off a particular time of the day, month, year, stage in life, or commencement of a new event or vocation. This temporal characteristic of ritual is often called “sacred time .” What must not be forgotten in the study of ritual is a special aspect of ritual that is often described as “sacred space.” Time and place are essential features of ritual action, and both mark a specific orientation or setting for ritual. Time and space, whether a plot of ground or a magnificent temple, are ritually created and become, in turn, the context for other rituals.”

What time of the year is more endowed with ritual than the winter festival season that includes – amongst other celebrations – Christmas? And do we not imbue the occasion with timely rituals both old and newly devised?

“Yes!” and “yes” would be appropriate responses to those questions.

Yes – the run in to Christmas is upon us and we each mark the season in our own particular fashions. For example, The Girl and I know that Christmas is shortly to be upon us when it is time to make a festive run up island to partake of luncheon with The Girl’s mother – and other venerable friends – and to exchange the first gifts of the season. This usually happens at about the same point on the calendar as does the annual charitable event that sees Barney Bentall’s Cariboo Express pull in to the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney for its annual fundraising concert. I have written about the Cariboo Express repeatedly over the years and I will continue so to do as long as each occasion proves to be the same festival of joy and love to which we have become accustomed… the which it happily continues to be.

Sacred times – sacred spaces!

Here are some boat pictures from our ferry crossing to Mill Bay on our way up island.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Autumn colours – 2

November 10, 2023 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

I thought the gentle reader might appreciate a few more glimpses of autumnal hues – before everything fades to a wintery grey for the the next three months or so. Fall is glorious, though it is the season of which I am least fond. Winter serves a purpose but unless one likes to get out to play in the snow and ice it is not one that some folk – self included – find easy to love. Still – it does eventually give way to the spring and that is a very good thing.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Autumn colours – 1

November 7, 2023 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

Good grief! Here we are – already well into November. The Halloween decorations are coming down and the over-zealous have already started on Christmas…

Time for some soothing images of autumnal colours – to demonstrate what a beautiful world this is despite what we insist on inflicting upon it:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Peter Gabriel

October 30, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

I promised gentle readers a couple of posts back that I would write something on the subject of Peter Gabriel’s recent concert appearance in Vancouver – a step along the way on the North American leg of his ‘i/o’ tour – the which is in support of his eagerly anticipated but as yet unreleased new album.

Actually, ‘unreleased‘ is somewhat misleading. Mr. Gabriel has been releasing tracks from the up-coming album on a monthly basis – coinciding with the full moon – since the start of the year… Should one be a subscriber (as, you will be unsurprised to hear – I am) then one gets all of the tracks in a variety of different edits, plus the full collection upon release. What a brilliant notion!

I first wrote about the excellent Mr G. in these jottings back in 2013 on the occasion of our first experience in London (of two!) of the ‘So‘ album’s twenty fifth anniversary tour. That post contained just the first of many PG references to feature within these ephemera and included the following testimonial:

“I do not believe that I have ever been – or could ever be – a party to a serious relationship with anyone who was not an admirer of the most excellent Mr Peter Gabriel. Those with whom I have shared such accord will undoubtedly testify to my continuing enthusiasm for the man and his works over an extended period.

The Kickass Canada Girl and I – naturally – established early on that we were mutual admirers, the chief difference between us being that whereas I have genuinely lost count of the number of times that I have seen Mr G perform live in the flesh, she had not – to the point at which we met – had that opportunity at all.

So it was – back in the summer of 2007 – that the Girl and I found ourselves huddled close together under the pouring rain in the grounds of a stately home in Norfolk. We had trekked all the way up there to catch one of a small number of dates that Gabriel was playing as a warm-up to that year’s WOMAD festival.”

I still can’t accurately recall all of the times that I have seen the estimable Mr. Gabriel, but I believe that the first time I did so was in 1978 or 1979. I am not aware of having missed a tour since then, several times seeing the great man at both the start and end of world tours.

This year’s show was a wonderful mixture of old and new material – and of art and music. Peter’s songwriting is, if anything, stronger than ever – the lengthy genesis of this new album certainly paying off. His voice has maybe lost a note or two in range but is stronger and more emotive than ever. At the age of 73 he is still in extraordinarily good voice.

For more about these excellent shows (the which have, as expected, been exceedingly well received and have gone down a treat in both Europe and North America) here are reviews from The Guardian and the Vancouver Sun.

By the way – I have given up worrying each time I see Mr.Gabriel that it may be the last. I see no reason why we should not be gathering together well into the next decade and more.

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Luck of the draw

October 18, 2023 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Just a few short months ago – back in August – I waxed lyrical in a post on these very pages on the subject of the delights and pleasures that we anticipated would be associated with the then upcoming 2023 Rugby World Cup.

This gripping competition has now arrived at the sharp end – with the quarter final matches having taken place this weekend just passed and with only the semis and the final to come.

The gentle reader may be wondering – therefore – why there has been a stony silence in these quarters on the subject since that last posting. Have we not been enjoying the splendid matches with which we have been regaled by the French hosts?

Well – yes, we have. There has been much joyous and exciting play at all levels of the competition – and some great games. It is truly wonderful to see the progress that has been made by a number of the Tier 2 sides.

The tournament has, however, been somewhat tarnished by the fact that – because the draw which resulted in the seeding for the competition was made more than three years ago – a number of sides have found themselves at a considerable disadvantage in terms of their current strengths. I have already made mention of the fact that the poor Scots (before the tournament ranked as number 5 in the world) found themselves in a pool which also included the world’s number 1 side – the Irish – and the number 3 side (and current world champions)- the South Africans. Other sides with considerably lower rankings found themselves in relatively easy pools.

I lamented in my previous post that the Scots would need to play out of their skins to get out of the pool stages – the which they duly failed to do.

This might just sound like the gripings of a sore loser, but the lop-sided nature of the draw has had other and greater effects. For example, the current top four sides in the world – the Irish, the All Blacks, the Saffers and the French might have expected to meet each other in a pair of titanic semi-finals, yielding two worthy contenders for the final. The latter will certainly still happen, but those two eagerly anticipated encounters actually took place in the quarter finals (Ireland/All Blacks – France/South Africa) and the two semifinals will as a result also include two sides who – with due respect to the Argentinians and to the English – are not playing at anywhere near the same level.

This is frankly disappointing and – whereas it will not in anyway diminish our enjoyment of the tournament – should not be allowed to happen again.

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City of Glass

October 11, 2023 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidTo Vancouver for the weekend – to see Peter Gabriel at the Rogers Arena. More on that in the next post – but first, some images of what Douglas Coupland quite understandably calls the ‘City of Glass’. Vancouver has that ‘big city’ feel – much more imposing than quaint little old Victoria.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

Visitors always want to know why Victoria is the provincial capital of British Columbia and not Vancouver. Not much to be said there – except that it is what it is. Personally – eager as I am to absorb the big city vibes for a while, I am always much happier when we get back to the island.

But then – I do come from island people…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

 

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Happy birthday!

October 2, 2023 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Yes – ’tis that time of year again at which to celebrate The Girl’s birthday…

Hooray and hoorah!

Happy Birthday to The Girl!

It now being (suddenly) autumn here on the west coast of Canada, the weather has given up any pretense of being remotely summery. Today is gray and rainy and no day for going out or doing anything much at all.

Fortunately we already did step out – a couple of nights back – to The Courtney Room at the Magnolia Hotel in Victoria for a very splendid dinner – complete with a quite lovely bottle of St Aubin.

Yum!

The festivities will extend into next weekend when – as I have made mention of previously elsewhere – we head to Vancouver to see Peter Gabriel (and to do other celebratory things!)

What jolly japes!

Happy Birthday!

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On the town

September 27, 2023 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

As trailed in this recent post the autumn (or fall) season that has suddenly announced itself here in BC (to the great relief of fire-fighters and gardeners alike) gets underway for The Girl and I in a haze of cultural events. I thought I would just briefly report back on a few of them…

Having enjoyed one of the season-closing concerts at Butchart Gardens which featured soul/blues stalwart Miss Emily (”An angelic voice with just a hint of sultry devilishness. This gal is a rocket ready to take-off!” – The Tragically Hip) we were more than ready to be splendidly entertained by the wonderful Bonnie Raitt at the Royal Theatre here in Victoria at the start of September. The Girl introduced me to Bonnie back in the UK in around 2007 – at the New Theatre in Oxford as I recall – and I rapidly became a fan. Ms. Raitt is 73! Sorry – I shouldn’t have mentioned that, but if I look half as good, perform with a quarter of the energy and have but a fraction of her vocal talents and guitar chops when I reach that age… I too would probably still be earning standing ovations from 1500 seat theatres some fifty years into my career.

Kudos!

I reported back in May this year the manner in which The Belfry theatre’s closing show for the 2022/2023 season – “Old Stock – A Refugee Love Story” – had gone a long way to restoring our faith in Canadian theatre. I described the production thus: “It is witty but sensitive, riotously risque but touching, beautifully performed by musicians and actor/musicians alike and splendidly directed and staged.”

We have just been to see the opening production of the new 2023/2024 season (the which I will not name to protect the innocent!). I fear that our faith in the theatre is now right back somewhere adjacent to where it was before. This was an odd production which seemed to us not really to know what it was trying to accomplish. It certainly tried hard in so doing; way too hard, some might say. I was unimpressed by the writing (advertised as funny… not funny!) – the direction or the performances. To be fair, the material did not give any of those involved much of a chance. On the journey home The Girl and I found ourselves trying to recall as many as possible of the productions by which we had been impressed in a decade of theatre-going in London before we headed to Canada. It was a goodly list!

Now – something that was funny – a riotous evening in the company of the very excellent Dara O’Briain – also at the Royal Theatre. Dara – for those who have never had the huge pleasure of watching him at work (examples easily found on YouTube should you care to look… you lucky people!) – is perhaps our favourite comedian. He has the great advantage (for a comedian) of being massively intelligent and extremely quick on his feet. He is also, of course, Irish – which gives him a huge advantage.

It makes me very happy when it proves possible to see musicians, comedians and (very occasionally) actors that we know and love from over the water – here on the far west coast of Canada. It makes me even more happy that we get to see Peter Gabriel in Vancouver in about a week and a half’s time.

Can’t wait!

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So late so soon

September 20, 2023 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

“How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon?”

Dr. Seuss

It is high time that I finished posting photos from our recent travels to a variety of locations around British Columbia (not all of which we had originally planned to visit!). Let’s see if I can wrap things up in this one post!

We spent a night in Nanaimo – largely so that we could have lunch with The Girl’s mother and a dear friend of ours from Duncan. Whilst there we also indulged in some retail therapy and I took the opportunity afforded by being on the 14th floor of the Coast Bastion hotel to take some pictures of a favourite subject of mine – float planes!

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

Well – they are something that we just don’t see in the south east of England!

From Nanaimo we drove up the east coast of Vancouver island to Courtney/Comox, adjacent towns in the Comox valley that I had somehow contrived not yet to visit. We really liked the feeling of Courtney – the which has a sort of artsy vibe somewhat akin to Salt Spring island (should one be in BC) or St. Ives (should one be in the southwest of England.

In spite of its charms I somehow I managed not to take pictures of Courtney (not sure where my brain went!) but I did take the camera on an excursion to nearby Mount Washington – ski and outdoor resort.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid
No snow at this time of year, of course, though no shortage of wildfire smoke.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidThis little chap is a jay known as a Whiskey Jack – the which is Canada’s national bird (who knew? – certainly not this recent Canadian)…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidThese apparently fearless little birds are not named with reference to the Irish grain-based alcoholic beverage, but from the Cree word ‘Wisakedjak‘. This makes the cheeky little fellow the only Canadian bird commonly known by a traditional indigenous name.

Here he is – ready for his close up:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidHere he is – gone!…

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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