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Feathering the Nest
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: People
- Hits: 622
And, volunteering, back at the thrift shop. I had cleared the area - M***'s area, made it to the back wall, had my picture taken and it was distributed to the staff as proof that it could be done.
This was while M*** was away. M*** got back a few weeks ago, and offered dim congratulations on my 2 week success that undermined his 5 years of constant, 5 days a week labor...
I knew it would be this way. And, whether contrite or infected with my Zen enthusiasm he even cleaned up his shrine, all into a tub.
But - now I'm noticing, his Shrine is being rebuilt. A new one, from new donations and - to him (and occasionally me) - filled with items he(or I) find curious.
This is it at the moment:
You get it. Kitsch.
And - his area - as I'm often in when he isn't - has been sealed with red tape, like a crime scene, none shall pass, and I'm directed instead to other departments that have need of my skills.
He's rebuilding the nest. He can't help it. It's in his blood. Just as much as it's in my blood to destroy it.
I'm thinking at the moment jewelry could use my attention. I have yet to find a single interesting watch, and would be most curious to go through the tubs - and tubs - of bad plastic/Bakelite/gold plate/silver alloy jewelry and see if maybe, just maybe, there's something of interest.
Pretty sure there isn't, but pretty sure M*** is done working with me for a bit and so time to diversify and find other ways to keep productive and busy...
White Noise - Noah Baumbach
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Film
- Hits: 938
This, for a Netflix movie, was well done. The dialogue, the background ambience (watch with CC to catch it all - although, probably you won't...it may need a revisit) - snappy, sharp, incisive. This is what you get when you pay a writer. And a competent director. The difference - not quite a great movie, but so far head and shoulders above the rest it deserves mention.
And - while set in 1984, is ever more relevant today. The themes of "keep-em-distracted" and "life happens to those who don't pay attention" and the brainwashing of the populace by consumer-culture, mass media, and the - both obviousness and irrelevance of it all - well -
These themes have been resonating for a while.
Well done, and I have to admire Adam Driver for his commitment to rather less commercially spectacular films (think Annette) that make him someone worth watching. I look for the director first - but - on occasion the actors will compel me. He's one.
The Cecil Hotel
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Blog
- Hits: 969
Growing up every town had one.
And always, without fail, the most dismal, decrepit and depressing bar or hotel around. Even when I was young.
The Calgary Location, open from 1912 until 2008, when - being a cornerstone of the cities drug and murder trade, was finally closed down.
View Gallery: Calgary Cecil Hotel
Then there was the Edmonton Cecil Hotel, which apparently opened in 1906, and closed in 2003 due to building and health code violations.
Video: Remembering the Edmonton Cecil Hotel
Then there was the Cecil Hotel in Lethbridge which first appears in my searches for 1953 (but probably built before and rebranded later as a Cecil Hotel); demolished in 2002
Link: Photo Lethbridge Cecil Hotel
And the Medicine Hat Cecil Hotel, which opened in 1912 and is still open, the bar at least, the building around is said to be crumbling down.
Of course, there was a Moose Jaw Cecil Hotel as well, opening in 1907 and burning down in 1975. A brief history here.
...
This list could grow formidably long. I guess the question is - Who in the hell was Cecil? I mean - I have yet to come across a congruent reason why so many of the hotels were named after this one - enigmatic? person...
Murder on the Plains - R.G. Evans
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- Written by: Rod Boyle
- Category: Books
- Hits: 762
Canadian history, found as a small leaflet (64 pages) - type book, published in 1962, "Frontier Books No. 2", the kind you would pick up for your kids in gift shops or gas stations while on vacation in the day. Similar still abound. Not a bad writing style, full of the prejudices of my childhood, when Natives could be accurately described as "Bloodthirsty" and prisoners could be held in "Durance Vile". Noteworthy as while all of the crimes reference the more unsavory details of rape and murder it would be a highly dubious book to give to kids nowadays. Many of the cases were set in the Edmonton and Calgary region.
Worth all of the 25 cents I paid for it.
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