On the morning after the English Language leader's debate, CBC Radio's James Cudmore ended his reaction piece from Brixton's British Pub in Ottawa with an audible smirk: "One blessing: the campaign just has three weeks left to go." [audio:http://contrarian.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/debate_react2.mp3|titles=debate_react] This is one Harper meme (among several) that many press gallery reporters have embraced with alacrity: the May 2 election is an unnecessary, money-wasting, irritating, imposition on voters who have better things to do than contemplate national issues and chose among those who want to do them. It is scarcely an original observation that, as we trudge begrudgingly to the polls, citizens of Tunisia,...

24 April, 2011

St. Peter's Basilica, April 3, 2011....

22 April, 2011

Photograph of the Earth and the Moon, viewed from 183 million kilometers away by the Messenger spacecraft that went into orbit around Mercury last month. H/T: Peter Barss....

08 April, 2011

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett, after picking off Blue Jay designated hitter Eric Thames in the fourth inning of a Grapefruit League game in Fort Meyers, FL, Saturday night: He picked himself off. I don't pick guys off. I just throw the ball to first. ...

26 March, 2011

A Halifax friend writes: When you see the rigamarole HRM Council goes through each year during budget time to decide which non-profit organizations will receive Community Grants of as little as a few hundred dollars, I find it hard to believe it never occurred to Mayor Kelly that he should consult council before endorsing a single $400,000 grant to Power Promotional Events Inc., a for-profit company. Surely Kelly would be aware of that organizations wishing to obtain a community grant are required to meet very stringent criteria and submit a formal application which is thoroughly vetted by staff from several different Municipal...

22 March, 2011

English sculptor and prop maker Jamie McCartney arranged 400 plaster casts of vulvas into a nine-meter polyptych, to be displayed at the Brighton Festival Fringe in May. The project took five years and a quarter ton of plaster. Subjects ranged in age from 18 to 76, and included mothers, daughters, identical twins, transgendered men and women, one woman before and after giving birth, and another before and after labiaplasty (a practice McCartney hopes his exhibition will discourage). For many women their genital appearance is a source of anxiety and I was in a unique position to do something about that. Vulvas...

19 March, 2011

To live in this place, we put up with winters that sometimes seem never-ending. But end they do—eventually. Winter isn't over yet, but Sunday brought a kindly foretaste of the warmth to come. That triggered my annual dip into Ray Guy's 1975 collection of newspaper columns, You May Know Them as Sea Urchins, Ma'am, and its final essay, "This Dear and Fine Country (Spina Sanctus)." Well, we made it once again, boys! Winter is over. Oh, but there is still snow on the ground. So what? It hasn’t got a chance. It is living in jeopardy from day to day. We should pity it because it...

13 March, 2011

Installation artist and urban activist Candy Chang turned the side of an abandoned house at the corner of Marigny and Burgundy in New Orleans into a giant chalkboard where residents can record what’s important to them. She provided chalk: Chang explains: It’s also about turning a neglected space into a constructive one where we can learn the hopes and aspirations of the people around us… [T]his entire process (including official approval from many entities) has been a great lesson, experience, and project in itself….I believe the design of our public spaces can better reflect what’s important to us. The responses and stories from...

12 March, 2011

A line from Steve Jobs propelled Emory University student Ien Chi to produce a remarkable YouTube film: Click here to view on a flash-impaired IOS device. (Impaired by decree of S. Jobs, that is!) H/T: Silas...

03 March, 2011

For now, the last word on Spirit Place (previous instalments here and here) will go to Jeff Scott, pediatrician, Willow Street resident, St. John's Church parishioner, and a guy I admire, having witnessed his courage and grace under pressure when we worked together to get the Sydney Tar Ponds cleaned up. As is often is the case in controversy, both parties are crying foul. The opponents of the church development feel victimized by the “holier than thou, social justice, inclusive ‘nonsense’” and fear they will “bear the burden of living with the impact of this vast structure because St. John’s United Church...

03 March, 2011
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