Contents
- What we knew and they denied:
- Takin it down to $hitty hall
- Privatization slowly eroding Medicare
- "Food As Medicine"
- MICHAEL McCARTNEY
- Für Emilee
- Dear Mayor Larry Campbell,
- News from the Library
- Art Against Brutality
- If You were I
- Poverty is Violence against Children
- ART OPENING
- Increase incomes for people who live here
- Say what you think about housing . . .
- On the proposed Capital Plan
- The Teddy Bears Picnic
- I Grew Up with Bed Bugs
- Music Program: Random Notes
- Let’s Do Lunch
- SAFE/NOT SAFE
- Butterflies are free..
- Definition of "charity":
Government welfare stats prove what we knew
and they denied
The BC government says that about 107,000 fewer people are on welfare now than when the NDP was in power. Andrew MacLeod, who writes for Monday Magazine in Victoria and The Tyee on line has an interesting article about exactly how the government is cutting the numbers of people on welfare. You can read the whole article at
http://www.thetyee.ca/News/2005/08/18/WelfareRolls.
MacLeod uses information obtained from Freedom of Information requests. He says, first of all, that between June 2002 and Jan. 2005, 6,065 people
left the welfare rolls because they died. Naturally the Ministry doesn't keep stats on why they died. Starvation? Hopelessness? Homelessness?
MacLeod says the Ministry doesn't use the phrase "denied welfare" when keeping its statistics. Instead it puts "no case made codes" on people's files when they apply for welfare and don't get it. Here is Mac-Leod's list of some of the reasons people couldn't get welfare and how many times those reasons were used between June 2002 and January 2005, according to the Ministry:
Does not meet 2-year independence test: 764
Income in excess: 356
Assets in excess: 229
Assets in excess--vehicle: 27
Client has disposed of available assets without due consideration: 4
Person under the age of 19: 175
Non-compliance--job search: 111
Quit/Fired/Refused employment: 54
Fails to meet employment obligations: 20
Non pursuit of income: 7
Non-compliant with employment plan: 2
Student in school--secondary and post secondary: 50
In prison/half-way house: 22
On reserve: 18
Non-compliance--refused request for information: 90
No Social Insurance Number provided: 23
No identification provided: 10
Information false--no contact: 24
Immigration status is non-Canadian, non permanent resident or not protected (refugee): 13
Immigration--sponsorship breakdown: 7
By client request--reason unknown: 122
If these numbers seem really low, it's probably because the Ministry doesn't even count people as applicants unless they've completed the mandatory 3 week wait and job search. An article in Monday Magazine last year reported that about 3000 people a month who made initial inquiries about welfare didn't continue their application after the 3-week wait.
Here is the list of reasons people leave welfare, again from the Ministry via MacLeod:
No response to cheque hold or letter: 50,850
Cheque returned, no client contact: 5,865
Obtained employment: 37,404
Moved out of province: 6,325
Person deceased: 6,065
Non-compliance--refused request for information: 6,059
Does not meet 2-year independence test: 2,812
Student in school—2ndary and post 2ndary; 5,854
In prison/half-way house: 1,955
Non-compliant with employment plan: 2,723
Non-compliance--job search: 2,097
Quit/Fired/Refused employment: 651
Immigration--sponsorship breakdown: 351
Immigration status is non-Canadian, non permanent resident or not protected (refugee): 261
In other words it appears that the government was bending the truth when it claimed that welfare rolls were lower because so many people were getting jobs. In fact, MacLeod says that Victoria researchers Peter Adams and Cathy Tait say that the number of people on welfare who are expected to work has declined sharply "because of changes in government
policies with respect to eligibility and benefits."
By Jean Swanson
Takin it down to $hitty hallTakin it down to $hitty hall
gonna tell em off y a'll
summer been here almost gone
drugs on Hastings East dusk till dawn
bring yer yoyo's bring yer dolls
come complain to shitty hall
takin it down to $hitty hall
get ta geta one and all
Can't buy food past 1 am
children sold 1/2 price way past 10
drink ta 3 am have a ball
ya know ya slay me $hitty hall
Takin it down to $hitty hall
show our poverty at da 2010 ball
throw all poor in da street
rich visitors have forest cake to eat
welfare hopeless jump off da wall
suicide won't stop shitty hall
Takin it down to $hitty hall
police rather be in films spring til fall
police car movie show on
Hastings and Nain da dealers ya meet
Carnegie patrons beg your gall
stop this stop this $hitty hall
Takin it down to $hitty hall
PNE yer new slave now
people got no where to live
slot machines have more to give
satan rules yer iron ball
dance and prance at $hitty hall
Takin it down to $hitty hall
yer promise on deaf ears fall
drug dealers don't face da court
$hitty hall is a pillar short
dey broke der word no trust y a'll
see ya in November: up yers $hitty hall
Carl MacDonald
The day before I wrote this 6 people died of heroin overdoses. 25-Aug-05
Privatization slowly eroding MedicarePrivatization slowly eroding Medicare
On June 9, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down, in a 4-3 decision, a Quebec law that prohibited people from buying insurance to cover certain medical procedures which already were being handled by Medicare, but in the court’s opinion, were being delivered so slowly as to endanger lives. (Procedures like CT scans, hip replacements, and other minor tasks are those under consideration; major works, like surgeries, cancer treatments, etc. are too expensive for most people and are therefore still administered by the public healthcare system.)
“This is the end of Medicare as we know it,” crowed John Williamson of the right-wing Canadian Federation of Taxpayers.
Prime Minister Paul Martin moved quickly to dispel fears. “We’re not going to have a two-tier healthcare system in this country. Nobody wants that. What we want to do is strengthen the public healthcare system.” (As if to bear this out, another Supreme Court decision went 3-3 (unresolved) as to whether long wait lists for healthcare were a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.)
Certainly, Martin’s actions at the last Premiers’ healthcare meeting seem to indicate that: his government committed $41 billion over 10 years towards improving healthcare in
Allowing private concerns like insurance providers, for-profit clinics, etc. to creep into the healthcare system is contributing to the erosion of public healthcare. As Toronto Star columnist and author Linda McQuaig put it (“As public care declines, it serves only the poor,” June 13), the people who finally end up with the short end of the stick are those with low-incomes: in Australia, which has allowed healthcare privatization to a greater extent than here, doctors gravitate toward more lucrative private practice, and refuse treatment to those who can’t pay, for formerly covered procedures.
Also, writes McQuaig, the ultimate result of healthcare privatization is that the rich typically resent paying taxes for a system they no longer use, and therefore they press for, and usually win, tax reductions, leaving less money to fund the public system, meaning inferior care for the remaining low-income users.
Privatization of medical services is a growing concern in provinces other than
Privatization has reared its ugly head in another area in BC: the administration of the Medical Services Plan. Currently, that work is contracted to a
I’ve seen conflicting opinions on the effect that the Supreme Court ruling will have on Medicare. From the CBC story, “Healthcare ruling called ‘stinging indictment’”, June 10, (www.cbc.ca), CMA spokesperson Albert Schumacher said the ruling “could substantially change the very foundations of Medicare as we know it.” However, Sharon Sholzberg-Grey of the Canadian Healthcare Association said she could not see private interests setting up separate cancer treatment or heart surgery centres in
At the annual meeting of the Canadian Medical Association on August 16, two-thirds of 200 delegates voted down a motion calling for them to work against the development of a parallel private health care system. This was a startling development, because previously, the CMA had always supported Medicare. Apparently, a majority of doctors with the CMA are no longer confident that the government can improve Medicare to the point where there aren’t such long waiting lists for treatment, for example. In the Vancouver Sun article reporting on this (“Doctors still back private health care,” August 17, Mark Kennedy), the closing sentence stated: “An association of young doctors expressed concern that the CMA had passed up an opportunity to take a strong stand against privatization, and has taken the first step towards endorsing a two-tier medical system that will harm many Canadians.”
One thing is clear: unless we’re careful about where we’re headed, privatization will creep into the healthcare system to a greater and greater extent, and that surely does not bode well for Medicare, arguably one of the jewels of
By Rolf Auer
"Food As Medicine""Food As Medicine" is the next workshop in Gallery Gachet's monthly Introduction to Alternative Healing series. The workshop runs Sept. 13, 10am-Noon, at
The workshop presenter, Nancy Cameron, has extensive credentials in her practice. She is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in
Macrobiotics is a Greek word that means "large/long life." It is based on the suggested dietary and lifestyle recommendations for health and longevity in The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine, the oldest known book of Chinese medicine.
Cameron also has a Masters degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine, in addition to being a registered acupuncturist and Diplomate in Chinese Herbology.
The Introduction to Alternative Healing series is funded through the Consumer Initiative Fund and Vancouver Coastal Health.
MICHAEL McCARTNEYMICHAEL McCARTNEY
May 11, 1956 – August 9, 2005
We had a Coffee House Memorial last Friday (17th) to remember and revive the best of Michael in the spirit we believe he would have dug. I want to thank Mark Oakley for pulling the music together and Marguerite for preparing the most beautiful food trays in his honour.
Michael was adopted by a family in
The Music Program at Carnegie meant the world to Michael! He often said that music was the only thing he had left in what he considered the rubble of his life. My personal thank you to all the musicians who played with him and all those who enjoyed listening to him, for giving him the most precious times he had in the past year.
Damn it all Michael, I missed you before the reality of your death even quite hit me; it still hasn't, not really. Today’s the day of the week you always came bounding into my office filling me in on what's up, what's down, so today is particularly melancholic. We would laugh so hard together tears would almost run down our legs, you with your Jerry Lewis imitation and funny teeth in sideways. But sadly, in your case, my cherub, laughter bubbled from the well of your tears, and at the bottom there was blood.
Michael left everyone who knew him with a legacy of sorts simply because you knew him. He is not gone, he has just gone on ahead. And some day, we will all catch up… see ya Michael.
Bonjour Monsieur, Je t'aime,
Colleen
Für EmileeFür Emilee
Innocence becoming virtue
the child follows the path in kind
A belief, a trust, a willingness mild
Ne’er could await the betrayal to find itself
alone, fearful, ever a mockery
Too sudden learned the truth, the treachery.
The Bass Player
Dear Mayor Larry Campbell,Dear Mayor Larry Campbell, August 23, 2005
As an employee of the Vancouver Public Library (CARNEGIE BRANCH) , today was the most challenging day for me since I started to work here over 30 years ago. Knowing the dynamics that are involved with working in the downtown Eastside, I have coped with the challenges pretty well.
Today was a horrifying experience for me when I literally had to step all over bodies on the main step to enter my work place. I had a confrontation with a young native woman who was high and was giving an injection with a needle in her hand to another
woman who was lying down on the top step leading to the front door of the Carnegie Centre. I had to knock on the glass door to get someone inside to
let me in, and this disturbed her very much to the point where she was swearing at me and was yelling because I was interrupting her injection procedure
to her friend’s neck. I was so scared, because while she was screaming she was waving this open needle towards me. My heart was racing with fear, then the janitor opened the door, let me in and I called the police.
The procedure in getting Police help was unbelievable, the woman at the other end to 911 non emergency was asking me all these questions about myself(!) my name, my birthday, all of which I felt was not necessary at that time. What I wanted was police intervention to move the masses outside of my work place. Finally, another colleague within the centre hailed 2 police officers who where in the back alley and came to the scene. By that time the masses had dispersed and the girl went away from the scene. I told the officers what happened.
Why I am writing to you is that you should be made aware of our work conditions here at Carnegie. Paul Taylor, the editor of the Carnegie Newsletter, wrote a letter to you pleading that something be done about the situation here in regards to the drug scene at the front door in the mornings and the need for a police presence. I am also begging, please do something about allowing me to come to work without having to feel that I have to fight for my life in order to enter my work place, so I can continue to serve those really needing help here.
Thank you
Lia Caruso Carnegie Library
News from the LibraryNews from the Library
Do you have trouble reading small print? Thanks to a very generous donation, the library has just received an Optelec Reader, which magnifies books, newspapers, or any other printed material. Come in to the library and give it a whirl – it’s right next to the door, alongside the photocopier.
Tasty New Books for September:
Suffering from diabetes? Diabetes for Dummies by Alan L. Rubin (616.46 RUB) gives simple, plain-English advice on what diabetes is, how it affects your body, and what you can do about it. The same author co-wrote Diabetes Cookbook for Dummies (641.56 RUB), which tells you what you can and can’t eat, how to manage your diabetes, and what to eat when you eat out. There are also 200 pages of recipes to drool over and make, from simple dishes like Vegetable Omelette to adventurous cooking like Squab alla Piemontese and Grilled Red Snapper with Black Bean-Roast Banana Mash. There are also some wonderful recipes in Elders from All Nations Cookbook, created in collaboration with the Aboriginal Diabetes Awareness, Prevention, and Teaching (ADAPT) program. My favourite? Ron Wilson’s Athletic Sandwich (spread bread with peanut butter, top with cheese, canned fruit with sugar, then broil for 2 to 3 minutes).
Summer may coming to an end, but the library has a way of holding on to the taste of sunshine. Preserving, by Oded Schwartz (641.4 SCH) is a beautifully illustrated guide to drying, canning, curing, pickling, potting, salting, candying and hundreds of other preserving techniques.
Always wanted to cook raccoon? New from the “Queen of Soul Food” is Sylvia’s Family Soul Food Cookbook: From Hemingway,
The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen: Classic Family Recipes for Celebration and Healing by Grace Young (641.59 CHI) is a lovely, gentle combination of cookbook, philosophy, tradition and superstition. In this book, and in the author’s life, the preparation of a meal is part of the joy of life, and the proper creation of a dish can have a favourable influence on health and good fortune.
According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation (338.47 SCH), fast food “has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fuelled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad.” This book’s been out for a while now, but it’s become a modern classic. If this won’t put you
off your Big Mac, nothing will!
Beth, your librarian
Art Against BrutalityArt Against Brutality
September 10 is shaping up to be an amazing day for
Art Against Brutality is a day to address all of these things. From the stage we will sing it and speak out to testify to our shared experience. At the Arts and Crafts pavilion there will be opportunities to express ourselves and co-op radio has been invited to help us document. We are still taking submissions for displays, ideas, installations and works of art, right up to the day. Decorate a table, a chair, an ironing board, a walker, a pole, a panel, a poem, a triptych, an alter, anything that will help you express yourself on this theme in your life. Prizes will be awarded for the best bicycle cart design and for decorated walkers, wheelchairs, and carts. Bring a stone for the medicine wheel and an open heart. We also will need servers for the sit down feast, and donations, to make it all more wonderful.
We are encouraging free standing displays that will fit into the labyrinth pavilion that we will be building that morning. Artists and presenters are invited to arrive at dawn for the elders blessing, up until noon, when we will be open to the public.
For more information and to ensure a spot on the main stage, call 604 682 3269, extension 8068 to leave a message. Be sure to leave us a way to connect with you, as that number is only a message box. We want to hear from you and see what we can do to make a strong statement.
If You were IIf You were I
Dry your eyes once, oh again, please
What’s the name that you last gave?
Do not be so down upon yourself
Try not to cry nor misbehave
Yes, you’re the one who controls what you do
Day after day, to do it your way
And please come out of your trance
Snap out of your sad and deep malaise.
Hey, what’s the easiest way to the door
that will open up your turmoiled mind
To expand those far horizons, what to seek for,
miss a beat, and then to find
And do not be discouraged nor despair,
You are strong: lies do indeed quite bind.
Do not be dissuaded from the aims you’ve set
As you can know, all will be fine.
What’s the way to your Utopia
If that’s what your heart’s desires now require
As I see you tiptoeing through the ashes,
around the muck and upon the mire
By the way, who is the crude partner you hang with?
Are matters that dire?
Some so-called friends can be deceitful,
They may be devilish to conspire.
When the veiled curtain is slowly & precisely drawn
Up from down, and away,
The dreary, cloud-crowded yet awesome skies
Will open wide again to sunny days
Then it shall be your turn to make changes of mind,
. . . you do have, you know . . .
the final, absolute and astonishing say!
… come what may.
Robyn Livingstone
Poverty is Violence against ChildrenPoverty is Violence against Children
Poverty is Brutal
Art Against Brutality is an idea; thoughts of how to make statements, whether written, verbal or expressed through another medium, on the injustice of almost all aspects of life that degenerate into violence and brutal reprisals are ever in our minds.
What to me is most vicious and insidious is how economics are now being used as a weapon on a global scale. Right here the consequences of cut-backs and the brutal regression in welfare policy are having gross effects. How long can true stories of “been cut off, have no money for bills (hydro/phone/ even rent) coming due, lost my place, no crisis help, the doctor didn’t fill out…, told to go to UGM, the Sally Ann, the FoodBank(?!) to eat for the next 4 to 6 weeks until/if my welfare is restored….” be heard from people you know? How long until you, what, ‘explode’?!
Poverty is so easily dismissed by those who aren’t existing in it. The chimera that ‘everyone enjoys the good life’ only gets shaken on some news broadcasts
and more often than not the hot spot is located in some
Little wisps of wisdom, cups of common sense, seem to be a lost cause on such as those affiliated with the Fraser Institute, the governments of most cities and provinces, when you say “Poverty is determined by the standard of living in each place.”
“Poverty is violence against children.” “Poor-bashing is what makes the politics of exclusion safe to eat.” Poverty is brutal.
Each of us can learn the why’s and how’s of our situations; the stark truth to the phrase corporate welfare bums, how legislation and regulations are used as a seemingly civilized blanket of words to cover the cannibalistic force of those who have too much and, because they don’t want to share, they don’t have to.
A first step to justice would be to limit the amount of wealth that any one person can accumulate unless he or she has the clear permission or approval of the collective body. There are an infinite number of possibilities to advance towards social justice. Each of us can start by taking those we know and meeting others on the same path.
By PAULR
ART OPENING FRIDAY SEPT.9
1:00 TO 3:00
THIRD FLOOR GALLERY
During the course of a day we’re bombarded with information, ideas and images from all sides. This can be both stimulating and overwhelming. In an effort to make some sense of chaos, we’re learned to discard a lot of what comes our way. Making a collage is a way of seeing and incorporating “garbage” and a steady stream of words into a creative art form. It gives those of us who love to collect things an outlet for our obsessive tendencies. Anyone can make a collage – a word which comes from the French word colle which means “glue”. For seven weeks this summer, a group of us have been creating some fabulous art! Join us Friday September 9 to take a look at these original pieces and talk with the artists. The show ends Thursday, October 20.
Increase incomes for people who live here"Increase incomes for people who live here," Carnegie Association tells City
We don't need more rich people living here to "revitalize" our neighbourhood. That's what the Carnegie Community Centre Association (CCCA) told the city's planning department and councilors in an email sent August 10. The 3 page email made recommendations about the city's Downtown Eastside Housing Plan. "Our neighbourhood is vital right now," said Muggs Sigurgeirson, vice-president of the Association.
The city has a theory that if people who can afford more expensive condos start living in the DE, they will have money to spend in local shops, more stores will open up and the neighbourhood will be healthier. But the CCCA disagrees with this theory and doesn't want local low-income residents pushed out of the neighbourhood. It wants to restrict market housing and get the city to lobby fiercely to increase
incomes of the people who already live here. Over the past 30 years the purchasing power of people who depend on low wage work, employment insurance or welfare has fallen drastically. The CCCA wants city council to work hard to get federal and provincial governments to increase minimum wage, drop the $6 training wage, increase welfare rates
and end the barriers to getting on welfare, and make more people eligible for employment insurance.
The draft Downtown Eastside Housing Plan does say that any single room housing that is demolished in the DE should be replaced by new, affordable social housing. Unfortunately, federal and provincial governments aren't funding this type of housing lately, so a lot of pressure has to be put on these governments to get the money for the housing. Meanwhile the city is using various programs to encourage new condos and expensive rental housing. The CCCA told the city it should restrict this new market housing and "ensure that the number of new social housing units is at least twice the number of new market units on a year by year basis."
The city's plan divides the DE up into various sub-areas. It proposes to concentrate most of the social housing in the section of the DE around
(single room occupancy units) 1 for 1 in every district of th Downtown Eastside including Chinatown, Gastown, and Victory Square," says the CCCA, "Otherwise, low-income residents will be disproportionately crowded into one sub-zone."
Other points made by the CCCA include:
* the city should not allow new small suites (320 to 275 square feet) because the smaller size is not consistent with standards for livability;
* there is a huge need to increase the number of units of supportive housing and Special Needs Residential Facilities;
* the city should use every tool in its power to ensure tenants have the right to proper maintenance standards and that this does not result in evictions;
* the city should immediately focus on a campaign to get some of the $1.5 billion for housing that is part of the federal NDP/Liberal agreement on the last budget;
* the recommendations about residents' income in the Housing Plan should be made consistent with the stronger recommendations on income in the Homeless Action Plan.
The final Housing Plan should be on the city's website by September 7th. The presentation to City Council will be on the afternoon of September 15th. Members of the public can speak at that time but they should register first by calling the City Clerk at 604 873-7419.
By Jean Swanson
Say what you think about housing . . .Tell City Hall what you think about
housing in the Downtown Eastside
Will low-income residents of the Downtown Eastside be kicked out as richer condo owners move in? Should new social housing units be smaller than the existing standard of 400 square feet? Should we encourage business in the area by bringing in condo owners with money or by lobbying fiercely to increase minimum wage and welfare and improve
employment insurance for low income residents? On Sept. 15th, City Council will be hearing from members of the public (that could be you!) about its Downtown Eastside Housing Plan.
Your voice is important.
To learn more about the city's Housing Plan check out the city's website after September 7th (go to City of Vancouver, then departments, then housing centre and click on Housing Plan for the Downtown Eastside). And/or read the article about the Carnegie Community Centre Association's position on the Plan in this newsletter.
To speak at City Council:
· Phone the City Clerk at 604 873-7419. Tell her you want to speak to council when they deal with the Housing Plan on Thursday, Sept. 15th. Then she will put you on the speakers list.
· Write down or think of what you want to tell City Council. Check out the points made by the Association in the article about their submission to the planning department;
· If you'd like to see the city's Housing Plan on paper, or check out the Association's submission to the city about it, come to the
between 1 and 3;
· Gather at the information desk at Carnegie at 1:30 on Thursday, Sept. 15th. The Carnegie Association will have bus tickets so you and all of us from Carnegie can go to City Hall together.
By Jean Swanson
On the proposed Capital PlanAlong with activism needed to get safe, affordable and decent social housing, people with the Downtown Eastside in your heart could also get ready for the November Civic elections. Right now, in the Carnegie Reading Room and likely all other Public Library branches in
The Capital Plan is what the City government sets
out to prioritize spending for the next 3 years. There are over 2 dozen items up for inclusion but, need it be said, only so much money. On the back page of the Capital Plan booklet is a form that asks each voter to list what they would like to be high, to be included in the final Plan.
For the Downtown Eastside there are several proposals that would really affect the livability in and of our neighbourhood: a new library in Strathcona (in addition to Carnegie’s), programs and better safety and health for residents; affordable social housing…
Like a lot of newspaper cartoons say at elections – ‘only 1 vote’ + ‘only 1 vote’ + ‘only 1 vote’ + …
And like a lot of people who do vote say: “If you
didn’t vote you’ve got no right to complain!”
PRT
The Teddy Bears PicnicThe Teddy Bears Picnic
It happened just like it was yesterday. On a warm summer’s morn in August, Colleen and Marleen, our Volunteer and Seniors coordinators, took a group of us from the Carnegie community centre for an outing to
Our bus driver judged the bears and other so-called creatures for their worthiness. I had brung a ruby red (my own} teddy bear wearing his heart on his sleeve Other entries included a talking teddy ruxpin bear.
There were so many winners including origiinal cadiness for the most ripped off bear. I think Andy won that one although i don't remember. All know is my bear didn't win even though there was a short search of worthy witnesses. All the other bears and toys (yes even toy-town toys) won a prize. Anyway they all started laughing at my teddy bear calling him "loser bear" and "non- winner bear" my poor bear nearly drowned himself in
Carl MacDonald
I Grew Up with Bed BugsI Grew Up with Bed Bugs
My mum went to spirit this year at 94 years old. She was in N.B. I am 1/8 Micmac, thanks to her grandmother in P.E.I. They say I don’t look it, she did though. I remember her teaching me to light those long wooden matches to scare the beejeesus out of the bedbugs, by putting them in the springs of the bed, pulling it out just as my flesh starts heating, and blowing it out. Not sure if that was to fry the eggs or sizzle the bugs. I remember some running like they were joining a marathon in a hurry. The bed bug welts on my young body were enough to make me willingly light matches. Between that and the head lice frequently going around at school, I was not a happy camper. Still not, minus the bugs, now that I sit down and think about it. But do I want to sit down and think about it? Ho-hum!? Poverty has its pluses and minuses, I guess.
I grew up in the slums. Since going to University and becoming a feminist and a hippie with a bad haircut, I have been told not to call it “the slums”. It is not politically correct, I am told. But they weren’t there at the time!!! I say it with a sarcastic humour, just as my sister used to say when anyone came from another area, “Oh, slummin’ today, are ya?” We survived with humour. I still do.
I did a “pig adoption” outside Carnegie last week, all stuffed animals. “This little piggie went to market, this little piggie stayed home, this little piggie had corn beef, this little piggie had none.” My mum used to say that rhyme while wiggling my toes. The last line goes “and this little piggie went wah wah wah all the way home.” So I’m trying to change the tears to smiles, still, after all these years. It always bothered me, even at age 2. They always said I had a heart of gold. It is money in the bank, I figure. Say wha?!!
Then there’s the story of the
It ain’t gonna rain no more
It ain’t gonna rain no more
So how in heck can I wash my neck
If it ain’t gonna rain no more?
Tears from the heavens, or sayings like:
I have an attitude and I know how to use it.
Do not start with me, you will not win.
Behind every successful woman is herself.
Folks please believe me this time, I have said it so many times for so many years, I own Woodwards. Reclaim it. I wrote a plan for it starting with a long house – no computers – self-governed – health oriented. A good experiment.
No, I am not the “crazy one”, I am the one stolen from so many times. I think Carnegie has printed all the poetry I have submitted over the years. More than once it has been edited. Others have told me it has happened to them too. To edit poetry is like going up to a painting on the wall and saying
“I don’t like that red, I will change it to blue.”
By Beth Buchanan
Music Program: Random NotesMusic Program: Random Notes
I was trying to think: of just about everything and absolutely nothing all at the same time when I realized it’s the same thing. Don't believe me? That dosen't matter, 'cause it's probably already happened in one form or another. Yeah sure, just give it a name and the precept is playing somewhere's out there. As if this here isn't a precept, or a concept someone here, there, or anywhere would find inside-out of one of those precept thingys that wasn't here there or anywhere; Or up against That fence over there, bending back towards a picture that's up to the old tricks we've been told are the old tricks.
Old Trick # 1; There's gold in them there hills.....
Old Trick # 2; !fit's too good to be true, then it probably is.....
I was going to include a bunch of old sayings that are sorta like those ones I've been quoting, and I started to remember people at Mike’s memorial, sayin' things to each other that are like old sayings that one sez when there isn't a whole lot more to say. Why? I'm not sure, but it might have something to do with that feeling of the memorial being an Irish wake without the whiskey. Or maybe it's just one of those coping mechanisms we all use when faced with the unexpected, and part of 'life going on', is the process that, more often than not, displays as old sayings, and Irish wakes.
Speaking of old sayings, Murphy's been a pest this past while, and the scheduled musicians’ meeting for the 26th of Aug. had to be cancelled. Yes kiddies a busy theatre, and busy people make for the odd conflict in schedules. So, we'll reschedule for a day when the music program has the theatre booked on a regular basis. How about Wednesday, Sept. 14th at two o'clock? (two hours of music, two hours of meeting.) This meeting will be mainly focused on the proposed CD project, as the last meeting on this subject left a few unresolved issues, and undelegated project responsibilities. If time allows we'll also include a general music program discussion.
Thanks go out to Dave B. who helped in getting apropriate computer software for recording our little project, by the way. (Now if the music programs only had a permanent computer )
I've a couple of other kudos to cast about like rose petals, but they're for people who can help us out (the music programs) with a thing that led to the last meeting being cancelled. Namely, space. Yeah I know, 'the final frontier', but these aren't the voyages of the Squid Ship Blenderprise, hell no.. .. As anyone who has done any recording can tell you, recording is a time consuming process, one where setting up and tearing down, setting up and tearing down, isn't something you want to be doing every day. So, if anyone out there has a suggestion concerning a space we can convert to a recording environment for reasonable lengths of time,(2 days, 3 days at a time.) Please let us know.
Oh, and we have no budget for renting a space, so when I say 'help us out’ you could say I mean it li
erally. .Till next time
M.
Let’s Do LunchLet’s Do Lunch
Hey, let’s do lunch
We'll talk about the madness of love
And I will tell you a story about the secret treasure
Hidden in the forgotten temple,
The jewel in the crown
To be found in the heart of the soul
Lit by true love’s light,
A secret door to a luminous tavern where tipplers drink the immortal wine,
Poured by the hand of the divine, Lover.
O, who cares now, how long the night.
My soul has been set free and all I know is light.
Wave after wave after wave,
spiritual light resonates from tip to toe.
A harmonic song is singing in my soul.
Love is not something rational, something intellectual,
it is not a thing to be reasoned.
Love is a special madness,
like a warm breeze that blows over the frozen tundra
gently melting moisture seeps beneath your skin
tickling the unsuspecting heart, the sleeping seed of
the soul, forgotten in the dark.
Vibrating, resonating, germinating, awakening, stretching, reaching,
breaking out of the dark boundaries, released into
the light
A once desolate panorama now sparkling abloom,
a vibrant carpet of wild flowers.
Luminous purple yellow orange blue green red velvet violet, singing,
sweet honeyed scented essence fills the air.
Love is a special madness that over takes reason.
a special breeze that sweeps over all our senses and
carries us away.
Away from our desolation and wraps us in a sweet luminous embrace.
Arms without a body, space without time,
madness without a mind,
and I don't mind at all.
For I don't fall into love, I rise up into it,
and with it find the freedom I never knew.
O who can tell how sweet the fruit divine, yet hidden in the blossom.
Who can tell when we shall find the ripe sweet fruit,
whose bite, whose juice, whose essential nectar, is immortal loving.
And there revealed the secret elixir.
But of course your diatribe
is based on the presumption that there is a god.
Until that is proven everything stemming from that belief becomes the
ramblings of an unhinged maniac....pure madness
my friend !!
O, tell the intellect to seek the madness of love.
BUT PLEASE, do not say that I am unhinged,
like some useless shutter banging in the wind,
making some useless noise, unless you know,
the wind to be the spirit of creation,
and I announce his presence.
Unhinged?, unhinged like the Hawk from the tether of its task master.
yes, fine.
Unhinged like the winged caterpillar that has given up its
32 feet that give it such a firm grip upon reality. yes, fine.
Unhinged like the sweet essence of the bound bud beginning to open,
revealing wings of light for the souls flight, in love.
yes O yes.
unhinged?
UNHINGED YOU SAY ?
Even the hinged have a story to tell,
but they are bound and their squeak is a yell,
their task master oils them with some material goodie,
they are easily satisfied and shut up,
quickly returning to work, pacified.
We be all anaesthetized,
the earth cracks
but we hear not the cries,
paralyzed we reach for the pipe and pretend it will be all right,
there is a drought in the soul
and our tears fall dry,
why not do lunch.???
We’ll talk about the madness of love.
Brian Michael Nelson ©
SAFE/NOT SAFEART EXHIBIT EXPLORES WOMEN'S
SAFETY IN DTES
A community art project at Gallery Gachet, 88 E. Cordova, running from Sept. 9 to Oct. 2, hopes to raise awareness about women's safety and promote change. SAFE/NOT SAFE is a group photography exhibition featuring the work of 30 women who live and work in
Women have taken photographs as they've worked and roamed the streets, as they've found refuge and shelter there. They describe, in their own words and through their eyes, responses to the dangers they face daily.
"This community art installation gives a visceral account of these women's often precarious existence on the streets," says curator/project coordinator Karen LeBeau. "It serves as testament to the spaces and places in their lives where women can feel safe or at risk of violence from one moment to the next."
SAFE/NOT SAFE is about awareness as an impetus for societal change, big and small. It is about lives lived in a part of
While the DTES receives considerable attention from the media, politicians and general public, little consideration is given to making changes to provide a safer existence for those who live and work there now. To date, no harm reduction measures have been initiated to improve the safety of women in the DTES, despite the fact that since 1985 well over 100 women from this area are missing and or/dead.
SAFE/NOT SAFE is a privately funded project that relied on the expertise, talents and passion of several volunteer collaborators. The project was
coordinated out of the safe haven of the Women's Information Safe House (WISH) in the Downtown Eastside. Karen LeBeau has been a Registered Nurse since 1988 and has been employed at
Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. LeBeau worked in
SAFE/NOT SAFE is showing in Gallery II at Gallery Gachet, in conjunction with the larger show "synesthesia: a concomitant sensation." It runs Sept. 9 to Oct. 2, with an opening reception Sept. 9, 7-10pm (admission by donation). For more information, stop by Gallery Gachet Wed-Sun, Noon-6pm, call 604.687.2468, or visit the website at www.gachet.org.
Butterflies are free..Butterflies
are free..
Sparrows dart
from here
to there.
My heart shines
like this . .
I sing a song
ever so joyfully
for my relations.
RG
Definition of "charity":Definition of "charity":
(pre-socialist usage) <in an exploitative society> [a well-to-do person or institution] which gives donations to selected 'poor people' in a humiliating manner while using philanthropic and religious slogans in order to conceal the necessity of radical social changes.
