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Tuesday 29 November 2011

Rock On in Brahma with AC, George! Feb. 25/43 - Nov. 29/01




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George Harrison

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
George Harrison
Black-and-white shot of a mustachioed man in his early thirties with long, dark hair.
George Harrison in 1974.
Background information
Also known as Carl Harrison
L'Angelo Misterioso
Hari Georgeson
Nelson/Spike Wilbury
George Harrysong
George O'Hara-Smith
Born 25 February 1943
Liverpool, England, UK
Died 29 November 2001 (aged 58)
Los Angeles, California, US
Genres Rock, pop, psychedelic rock, experimental, world
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, actor, record and film producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, sitar, ukulele, mandolin, tambura, sarod, swarmandal, bass guitar, keyboard
Years active 1958–2001
Labels Parlophone, Capitol, Swan, Apple, Vee-Jay, EMI, Dark Horse
Associated acts The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Traveling Wilburys, Dhani Harrison, Ravi Shankar
Website www.georgeharrison.com
Notable instruments
Gretsch Country Gentleman
"Rocky"
"Lucy"
Rosewood Telecaster
George Harrison,[1] MBE (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001)[2] was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles.[3][4] Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle",[3] Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other Beatles, as well as their Western audience.[5] Following the band's break-up, he was a successful solo artist, later a founding member of the Traveling Wilburys. Harrison was also a session musician and a film and record producer. He is listed at number 21 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[6]
Although most of The Beatles' songs were written by Lennon and McCartney, Beatle albums generally included one or two of Harrison's own songs, from With The Beatles onwards.[7] His later compositions with The Beatles include "Here Comes the Sun", "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". By the time of the band's break-up, Harrison had accumulated a backlog of material, which he then released as the triple album All Things Must Pass in 1970, from which two hit singles originated: a double A-side single, "My Sweet Lord" backed with "Isn't It a Pity", and "What Is Life". In addition to his solo work, Harrison co-wrote two hits for former Beatle Ringo Starr, as well as songs for the Traveling Wilburys—the supergroup he formed in 1988 with Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison.
Harrison embraced Indian culture and Hinduism in the mid-1960s, and helped expand Western awareness of sitar music and of the Hare Krishna movement. With Ravi Shankar he organised a major charity concert with the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh. In addition to his musical accomplishments, he was also a record producer and co-founder of the production company HandMade Films. In his work as a film producer, he collaborated with people as diverse as the members of Monty Python and Madonna.[8]
He was married twice, to model Pattie Boyd from 1966 to 1974, and for 23 years to record company secretary Olivia Trinidad Arias, with whom he had one son, Dhani Harrison. He was a close friend of Eric Clapton. He is the only Beatle to have published an autobiography, with I Me Mine in 1980. Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.

Contents

 [hide

[edit] Early years: 1943–1959

Harrison was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England, on 25 February 1943,[9][10] the last of four children to Harold Hargreaves Harrison and his wife Louise, née French.[11]

Harrison's first home – 12 Arnold Grove
He had one sister, Louise, born 16 August 1931, and two brothers, Harry, born 1934, and Peter, born 20 July 1940. His mother was a Liverpool shop assistant, and his father was a bus conductor who had worked as a ship's steward on the White Star Line. His mother's family had Irish roots and were Roman Catholic;[9] his maternal grandfather, John French, was born in County Wexford, Ireland, emigrating to Liverpool where he married a local girl, Louise Woollam.[12]
Harrison was born in the house where he lived for his first six years: 12 Arnold Grove, Wavertree, Liverpool, which was a small 2 up, 2 down terraced house in a cul-de-sac, with an alley to the rear. The only heating was a single coal fire, and the toilet was outside. In 1950 the family were offered a council house,[13] and moved to 25 Upton Green, Speke.[14]
His first school was Dovedale Primary School, very close to Penny Lane,[15] the same school as John Lennon who was a couple of years ahead of him.[16] He passed his 11-plus examination and achieved a place at the Liverpool Institute for Boys (in the building that now houses the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts), which he attended from 1954 to 1959.[17]
Harrison said that, when he was 12 or 13, he had an "epiphany" of sorts – riding a bike around his neighbourhood, he heard Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" playing from a nearby house and was hooked.[18] Even though he had done well enough on his 11-plus examination to get into the city's best high school, from that point on, the former good student lost interest in school.[18]
When Harrison was 14 years old, he sat at the back of the class and tried drawing guitars in his schoolbooks: “I was totally into guitars. I heard about this kid at school who had a guitar at £3 10s, it was just a little acoustic round hole. I got the £3 10s from my mother: that was a lot of money for us then.” Harrison bought a Dutch Egmond flat top acoustic guitar.[19] While at the Liverpool Institute, Harrison formed a skiffle group called the Rebels with his brother Peter and a friend, Arthur Kelly.[20] At this school he met Paul McCartney, who was one year older.[21] McCartney later became a member of John Lennon's band called The Quarrymen, which Harrison joined in 1958.[22]

[edit] The Beatles: 1960–1970

Black-and-white picture of two young men playing electric guitars, the guitarist in the foreground wearing a leather jacket and the one in the background a white collared shirt. Other individuals are visible in the background
Stuart Sutcliffe and Harrison (right) in Hamburg
Harrison became part of The Beatles when they were still a skiffle group called The Quarrymen. McCartney told Lennon about his friend George Harrison, who could play "Raunchy" on his guitar.[23] Although Lennon considered him too young to join the band, Harrison hung out with them and filled in as needed.[23] By the time Harrison was 15, Lennon and the others had accepted him as one of the band.[24] Since Harrison was the youngest member of the group, he was looked upon as a kid by the others for another few years.[25]
Harrison left school at 16 and worked as an apprentice electrician at local department store Blacklers for a while.[26][27] When The Beatles were offered work in Hamburg in 1960, the musical apprenticeship that Harrison received playing long hours at the Kaiserkeller with the rest of the group, including guitar lessons from Tony Sheridan, laid the foundations of The Beatles' sound, and of Harrison's quiet, professional role within the group;[28] this role would contribute to his reputation as "the quiet Beatle".[29] The first trip to Hamburg was shortened when Harrison was deported for being underage.[30]
When Brian Epstein became The Beatles' manager in December 1961 after seeing them perform at The Cavern Club in November,[31] he changed their image from that of leather-jacketed rock-and-rollers to a more polished look,[32] and secured them a recording contract with EMI. The first single, "Love Me Do", with Harrison playing a Gibson J-160E,[33][34][35] reached number 17 in the UK chart in October 1962,[36] and by the time their debut album, Please Please Me, was released in early 1963, The Beatles had become famous and Beatlemania had arrived.[37]
Black-and-white picture of four young men outdoors in front of a staircase, surrounded by a large assembled crowd. All four are waving to the crowd.
Harrison (third from left) with the rest of The Beatles in America in 1964
After he revealed in an interview that he liked jelly babies, British fans inundated Harrison and the rest of the band with boxes of the sweets as gifts. A few months later, American audiences showered the band with the much harder jelly beans instead. In a letter to a fan, Harrison mentioned jelly babies, insisting that no one in the band actually liked them and that the press must have made it up.[38]
The popularity of The Beatles led to a successful tour of America, the making of a film, A Hard Day's Night (during which Harrison met his future wife Pattie Boyd), and in the 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours, all four Beatles were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).[39] Harrison, whose role within the group was that of the careful musician who checked that the instruments were tuned,[40] by 1965 and the Rubber Soul album, was developing into a musical director as he led the others into folk-rock, via his interest in The Byrds and Bob Dylan,[41] and into Indian music with his exploration of the sitar.[42][43] Harrison's musical involvement and cohesion with the group reached its peak on Revolver in 1966 with his contribution of three songs and new musical ideas.[44][45] By 1967, Harrison's interests appeared to be moving outside the Beatles, and his involvement in Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band consists mainly of his one song, "Within You Without You", on which no other Beatle plays,[46] and which stands out for its difference from the rest of the album.[47]
During the recording of The Beatles in 1968, tensions were present in the band;[48] these surfaced again during the filming of rehearsal sessions at Twickenham Studios for the album Let It Be in early 1969. Frustrated by ongoing slights, the poor working conditions in the cold and sterile film studio, and Lennon's creative disengagement from the group, Harrison quit the band on 10 January. He returned on 22 January after negotiations with the other Beatles at two business meetings.[49]
Relations among The Beatles were more cordial (though still strained) during recordings for the album Abbey Road.[50] The album included "Here Comes the Sun" and "Something", "Something" was later recorded by Frank Sinatra, who considered it "the greatest love song of the past fifty years".[51] Harrison's increasing productivity, coupled with his difficulties in getting The Beatles to record his music, meant that by the end of the group's career he had amassed a considerable stockpile of unreleased material.[52] Harrison's last recording session with The Beatles was on 4 January 1970. Lennon, who had left the group the previous September, did not attend the session.[53]

[edit] Relationships with the other Beatles

For most of The Beatles career, the relationships in the group were extremely close and intimate. According to Hunter Davies, "The Beatles spent their lives not living a communal life, but communally living the same life. They were each other's greatest friends." Harrison's wife Pattie Boyd described how The Beatles "all belonged to each other" and admitted, "George has a lot with the others that I can never know about. Nobody, not even the wives, can break through or even comprehend it."[54]
Ringo Starr also stated, "We really looked out for each other and we had so many laughs together. In the old days we'd have the biggest hotel suites, the whole floor of the hotel, and the four of us would end up in the bathroom, just to be with each other." and added "There were some really loving, caring moments between four people: a hotel room here and there – a really amazing closeness. Just four guys who loved each other. It was pretty sensational."[55]
John Lennon stated that his relationship with George was "one of young follower and older guy", and admitted that "[George] was like a disciple of mine when we started."[56] The two would often go on holiday together throughout the 60s. Their relationship took a severe turn for the worse after George published his autobiography, I Me Mine. Lennon felt insulted and hurt that George mentioned him only in passing. Lennon claimed he was hurt by the book and also that he did more for George than any of the other Beatles. As a result, George and John were not on good terms during the last months of Lennon's life.[57] After Lennon's murder, George paid tribute to Lennon with his song "All Those Years Ago" which was released in 1981, six months after Lennon's murder. It contains the lyric "I always look up to you", suggesting implicit agreement with Lennon's appraisal of their relationship.[58]
Paul McCartney has often referred to Harrison as his "baby brother",[59] and he did the honours as best man at George's wedding in 1966. The two were the first of The Beatles to meet, having shared a school bus, and would often learn and rehearse new guitar chords together. McCartney stated that he and George usually shared a bedroom while touring.[60]

[edit] Guitar work

Harrison's guitar work with The Beatles was varied and flexible; although not fast or flashy, his guitar playing was solid and typified the more subdued lead guitar style of the early 1960s.[61] The influence of the plucking guitar style of Chet Atkins and Carl Perkins on Harrison gave a country music feel to The Beatles' early recordings.[62] Harrison explored several guitar instruments, the twelve-string, the sitar and the slide guitar, and developed his playing from tight eight- and twelve-bar solos in such songs as "A Hard Day's Night" and "Can't Buy Me Love",[62] to lyrical slide guitar playing,[63] first recorded during an early session of "If Not for You" for Dylan's New Morning in 1970.[64] The earliest example of notable guitar work from Harrison was the extended acoustic guitar solo of "Till There Was You", for which Harrison purchased a José Ramírez nylon-stringed classical guitar to produce the sensitivity needed.[65][66][67]
Harrison's first electric guitar was a Czech built Jolana Futurama/Grazioso,[68] which was a popular guitar among British guitarists in the early 1960s.,[69] The guitars Harrison used on early recordings were mainly Gretsch played through a Vox amp.[70] He used a variety of Gretsch guitars,[71] including a Gretsch Duo Jet – his first Gretsch, which he bought in 1961 second hand off a sailor in Liverpool;[72] a Gretsch Tennessean,[73] and his (first out of two) Gretsch Country Gentleman, bought new for £234 in April 1963 at the Sound City store in London, which he used on "She Loves You", and on The Beatles' 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.[72]
Black-and-white picture of two men, one, in the foreground to the right, in his mid-forties, and the other, in the background to the left, in his mid-twenties. Both are sitting cross-legged on rugs, and the man on the right holds a sitar.
George Harrison with Ravi Shankar, 1967
During The Beatles' trip to the US in 1964, Harrison acquired a Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar. He had tried out the 12-string electric guitar during an interview with a Minneapolis radio station, and was given the guitar either by the Rickenbacker company or the radio station.[74] The 360/12 was an experimental 12-string guitar with the strings reversed so that the lower pitched string was struck first, and with an unusual headstock design that made tuning easier.[70] Harrison used the guitar extensively during the recording of A Hard Day's Night,[75] and the jangly sound became so popular that the Melody Maker termed it "the beat boys' secret weapon".[76] Roger McGuinn liked the effect Harrison achieved so much that it became his signature guitar sound with the Byrds.[77]
He obtained his first Fender Stratocaster in 1965 and used it for the recording of the Rubber Soul album, most notably on the "Nowhere Man" track, where he played in unison with Lennon who also had a Stratocaster.[78] Lennon and Harrison both had Sonic Blue Stratocasters, which were bought second hand by roadie Mal Evans.[79] Harrison painted his Stratocaster in a psychedelic design that included the word "Bebopalula" painted above the pickguard and the guitar's nickname, "Rocky", painted on the headstock. He played this guitar in the Magical Mystery Tour film and throughout his solo career.
After David Crosby of the Byrds introduced him to the work of sitar master Ravi Shankar in 1965,[80] Harrison—whose interest in Indian music was stirred during the filming of Help!, which used Indian music as part of its soundtrack—played a sitar on the Rubber Soul track "Norwegian Wood", expanding the already nascent Western interest in Indian music.[81] Harrison listed his early influences as Carl Perkins,[82] Bo Diddley,[83] Chuck Berry[84] and the Everly Brothers.[85]

[edit] Song writing and singing

Harrison wrote his first song published with the Beatles, "Don't Bother Me", while sick in a hotel bed in Bournemouth during August 1963, as "an exercise to see if I could write a song", [emphasis in original] as he remembered.[86] "Don't Bother Me" appeared on the second Beatles album With The Beatles later that year, then on Meet the Beatles! in the US in early 1964, and also briefly in the film A Hard Day's Night. The group did not record another Harrison composition until 1965, when he contributed "I Need You" and "You Like Me Too Much" to the album Help!.
Harrison's songwriting improved greatly through the years, but his material did not earn respect from his fellow Beatles until near the group's break-up. McCartney told Lennon in 1969: "Until this year, our songs have been better than George's. Now this year his songs are at least as good as ours".[87][88] Harrison had difficulty getting the band to record his songs.[89][90] The group's incorporation of Harrison's material reached a peak of three songs on the 1966 Revolver album and four songs on the 1968 double The Beatles.
Harrison performed the lead vocal on all Beatles songs that he wrote by himself. He also sang lead vocal on other songs, including "Chains" and "Do You Want to Know a Secret" on Please Please Me, "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Devil in Her Heart" on With The Beatles, "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You" on A Hard Day's Night, and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" on Beatles for Sale.

[edit] Solo work: 1968–1987

Before The Beatles split up in 1970, Harrison had already recorded and released two solo albums, Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound. These albums were mainly instrumental. Wonderwall Music was a soundtrack to the Wonderwall film in which Harrison blended Indian and Western sounds;[91] while Electronic Sound was an experiment in using a Moog synthesiser.[92] It was only when Harrison was free from The Beatles that he released what is regarded as his first "real" solo album, the commercially successful and critically acclaimed All Things Must Pass.[93]

[edit] All Things Must Pass (1970)

After years of being restricted in his song-writing contributions to the Beatles, All Things Must Pass contained such a large outpouring of Harrison's songs that it was released as a triple album,[93] though only two of the discs contained songs—the third contained recordings of Harrison jamming with friends.[52][92] The album is regarded as his best work;[94] it was a critical and commercial success, topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic,[52][95] and produced the number-one hit single "My Sweet Lord" as well as the top-10 single "What Is Life". The album was co-produced by Phil Spector using his "Wall of Sound" approach,[96] and the musicians included Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Gary Wright, Billy Preston, and Ringo Starr.[52]
Harrison was later sued for copyright infringement over the song "My Sweet Lord" because of its similarity to the 1963 Chiffons song "He's So Fine", owned by Bright Tunes. Harrison denied deliberately plagiarising the song, but he lost the resulting court case in 1976 as the judge deemed that Harrison had "subconsciously" plagiarised "He's So Fine". When considering liable earnings, "My Sweet Lord"'s contribution to the sales of All Things Must Pass and The Best of George Harrison were taken into account, and the judge decided a figure of $1,599,987 was owed to Bright Tunes.[97] The dispute over damages became complicated when Harrison's former manager Allen Klein purchased the copyright to "He's So Fine" from Bright Tunes in 1978. In 1981, a district judge decided that Klein had acted improperly, and it was agreed that Harrison should pay Klein $587,000, the amount Klein had paid for "He's So Fine", so he would gain nothing from the deal, and that Harrison would take over ownership of Bright Tunes, making him the owner of the rights to both "My Sweet Lord" and "He's So Fine" and thus ending the copyright infringement claim. Though the dispute dragged on into the 1990s, the district judge's decision was upheld.[97][98]

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Saturday 26 November 2011

The shy man was absent - Chris Faiers (poem for Ray Souster)


The shy man was absent

(Raymond Souster Tribute, Nov. 22, 2011)


The shy man was absent
from his own poetry tribute
sixty plus of us crammed
the second floor of Runnymede Library
the shy man's bookish retreat
for most of his 90 years

The shy man's imprint was Contact
(irony universal in poetry's ascent)

he made contact with poetry readings
poetry magazines and poetry organizations
poetry of the best, by the best
but poetry for everyone

The shy man slipped his teller's cage
miraculously to birth, with a few close friends
the modern age of Canadian poetry

A bank teller, for God's sake
who never swore, womanized
stole a dime, overwrote a line
Will he even show up for his own funeral?
will we file past an empty casket
the shy man busy elsewhere, composing perhaps

When the shy man passes
to join his legion of friends
in the Canuck poetry pantheon
we earthbound ones will need
a statue or two
to fix his shy spirit a place

beside bronze Al in Queen's Park?
(Al shy? - all poets are shy)
or comfortable yards apart
from an even shyer genius
Glen on his permanent bench
outside CBC quarters?

until the time of bust in bronze
poet after poet visits Ray
in a nursing home just around
Runnymede's comfortable corner 
But tonight the shy man's legacy connects
a tribal gathering of poets his tribute
       not one empty chair


Chris Faiers
Pape and Queen
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov. 25, 2011

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Poetry Tribe* Honours Elder: Raymond Souster


Last winter professor/philosopher/author Terry Barker began lobbying me to feature the life and work of seminal Canadian poet Raymond Souster at our annual August Purdy Country LitFest (PurdyFest) gathering. Terry explained Souster's key roles in creating a modern Canadian poetry, and the major roles he played in founding the League of Canadian poets and in reinvigorating public Canadian poetry readings.

Of course I was quickly won over, but Terry persisted in advocating for Ray. I learned Terry was visiting Ray on a regular basis in his nursing home, as were poets James Deahl, Kent Bowman, Donna Dunlop, Mick Burrs and probably others. And at 90 years old, Ray was publishing another collection, BIG SMOKE BLUES. 

And so Terry and poet Anna Yin gave presentations on Ray at this summer's Symposium at PurdyFest #5.  Anna's powerpoint display was a nice counterpoint to Terry's academic overview of Ray's work and historical importance to the CanLit scene. But it seemed a pity that only 13 Purdyfesters, gathered in the rural Ontario Marmora Public Library meeting room, had the opportunity to share in their enthusiastic knowledge.

I suggested they should repeat their performance in Toronto, while Ray is still alive, and where Ray lives. Thus was created the idea for last night's heartfelt tribute to Ray at the Runnymede Public Library in west end Toronto. Unfortunately Ray was unwell, on antibiotics, and unable to attend. But an intimate gathering of 60 filled the pleasant meeting room on the library's upper floor to hear tributes from poets Ray has influenced.

Helen flint, the new Runnymede Head Librarian, warmly welcomed us, and introduced poet Allan Briesmaster, who hosted the tribute. She noted Runnymede Library has been Ray's lifelong branch of Toronto Public Library, and that preliminary meetings of the League of Canadian Poets were held nearby.

I didn't take notes, being eager to listen without distraction, so this is a subjective report on the evening, rather than a journalistic one. Apologies for names omitted or misspelled. Toronto Star columnist Joe Fiorito was one of the speakers, and I suspect Joe will write a more professional report on events. Joe also gave one of the most striking tributes. He told of arriving in TO from Fort William, an eager and naive young poet, eager to meet established poets. After much hesitation, Joe found Ray's number in the phone book, and finally screwed up his courage to call. Ray's wife answered, and upon learning Joe is a 'good Italian boy', she encouraged a reluctant Ray to meet the neophyte poet. Ray took Joe to lunch, and complimented him on his poetry. Joe's advice to young poets having lunch with their idols, 'Don't order soup - it's obvious your hand is shaking with each spoonful'.

John Robert Colombo told another favourite tale. Although the creator of public poetry readings in Canada, Ray left much to be desired as the host and emcee. 'He was a bit stiff, as if still in the bank teller's cage where he worked. And he was very shy'. JRC listed the poets in one of Ray's rosters, each one now famous. 'Ray admired maritime poet Alden Nowlan (as do I), and brought Nowlan to TO for a reading, at some considerable expense. After the audience had settled, Ray stepped forward to shyly announce that unfortunately the feature poet hadn't arrived. A hand went forward from the back of the room, and an even shyer voice managed to speak up, Yes, I'm here!'   

Each presenter gave a brief and heartfelt tribute to Ray. Greg Gatenby, founder of Harbourfront's world class International authors series, told of how Ray inspired him to found the series. Poets Mick Burrs, James Deahl, Kent Bowman and Norma West Linder gave emotional tributes  which caused small gasps in the audience.

Novelist Hugh Cook drove from Hamilton to reminisce about writing his master's thesis on Ray's work, and how surprised he was that Anna Yin had somehow discovered this lost treasure in university library archives.

Ray's close friend Donna Dunlop closed the evening with another sign of Ray's generosity and love and support of poetry and the poetry tribe. She drew tickets from a coffee cup, each of the 5 winners receiving a collection of 5 of Ray's signed poetry collections.

* I believe it was poet James Deahl who told me that Toronto People's poet Ted Plantos referred to the poets he knew as a "tribe".
.............................................................................................................

signing off for now for dinner ... maybe more later, with possible revisions, but wanted to write this while the memories of last nite are so fresh
Chris Faiers
Toronto
... and Chase ... wrffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!

............................................................................................................

Thursday, Nov. 24/11
A few more thoughts on Tuesday's Tribute to Ray Souster.

Contact
At the Tribute I learned why Ray Souster named both his reading series and his mag/imprint "Contact". Ray wanted to make contact with his readers, something which now sounds so obvious, but in the 1940s & '50s, when elitist & academic poets were in the ascendancy, writing and READING poetry to, for and by 'the masses' was a novel idea.

People's Poetry (Canuck)
Souster's concern and leadership with writing & reading accessible poetry led the way for the creation of Canadian People's Poetry, as exemplified by poets such as Milton Acorn, Al Purdy, Ted Plantos - indeed, according to James Deahl, the majority of Canadian poets now consider themselves to be People's Poets. So in some respect, most of us are the poetic children and grandchildren of Raymond Souster. 

A toast to Ray
After the Tribute, about a dozen of us wandered Bloor Street West until we found a pub with enough room & tolerance to accommodate our motley throng. First order of business: a hearty toast to Ray and his productivity and longevity! 

'thank you!' to everyone who participated in this Tribute to Ray


note to Conrad - I'm still in TO, but I'll ask Terry Barker if he can recommend a collected of Ray's poetry

.........................................................................................................................

Nov. 25/11
Hi again Conrad,
Terry Barker and I chatted last nite about your request for info on a collected of Ray's poetry. Terry knows more about CanPo than any other person I know. Terry informed me Ray's longtime publisher, Oberon Press, published a multi-volume set (6?) of his complete works some time ago. But Ray is so prolific, there will be hundreds, if not thousands more of his poems now. Terry also told me Bruce Whiteman has published an entire book just of Ray's titles and annotations - again, this would be missing the many more recent publications by Ray.

****************************************************************************88


The shy man was absent

(Raymond Souster Tribute, Nov. 22, 2011)


The shy man was absent
from his own poetry tribute
sixty plus of us crammed
the second floor of Runnymede Library
the shy man's bookish retreat
for most of his 90 years

The shy man's imprint was Contact
(irony universal in poetry's ascent)

he made contact with poetry readings
poetry magazines and poetry organizations
poetry of the best, by the best
but poetry for everyone

The shy man slipped his teller's cage
miraculously to birth, with a few close friends
the modern age of Canadian poetry

A bank teller, for God's sake
who never swore, womanized
stole a dime, overwrote a line
Will he even show up for his own funeral?
will we file past an empty casket
the shy man busy elsewhere, composing perhaps

When the shy man passes
to join his legion of friends
in the Canuck poetry pantheon
we earthbound ones will need
a statue or two
to fix his shy spirit a place

beside bronze Al in Queen's Park?
(Al shy? - all poets are shy)
or comfortable yards apart
from an even shyer genius
Glen on his permanent bench
outside CBC quarters?

until the time of bust in bronze
poet after poet visits Ray
in a nursing home just around
Runnymede's comfortable corner 
But tonight the shy man's legacy connects
a tribal gathering of poets his tribute
       not one empty chair


Chris Faiers
Pape and Queen
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov. 25, 2011

(first draft)


Monday 21 November 2011

in the park with Occupy Toronto: final hours?

St. James Park
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov. 21, 2011
early afternoon

Chase (my shih-tzu on steroids) and I finally made it to the Occupy Toronto site in St. James Park. A trip to TO from my rural village in the Kawartha Lakes region is a fairly major budget item for me, & the timing of our arrival was unfortunate.

Around 9 am today a judge decided against the Occupiers injunction to remain in the park, and given the reactionary nature of TO's mayor, the bust-up of the encampment will happen quickly, probably later tonite (Nov. 21) or early tomorrow morning.

We wandered into the camp off Jarvis Street, an area of TO part tenderloin, part trendy, near TO's, and Canada's, major artery, Yonge Street. Tents grew everywhere like mushrooms and toadstools. Organic. The spirit yurt was smaller, and more vividly decorrated, than imagined. A hand-lettered sign requested the removal of shoes, and several pairs lay on a rough plank. I wanted to visit inside, and see the library and perhaps meditate, but felt pulled to a broader investigation first.

A crowd of several hundred were gathered in front of the park gazebo, and a long-haired guy was maniacally screaming stuff about fighting capitalism - he would have been scary to some, to me he was just overwrought, and I stopped by a card table. A young man was collecting signatures to start a new federal politikal party. I signed his petition to be a potential member of this venture, and he explained he wished to change the system from within. I decided against giving a lecture on how monopoly capitalism and imperialist empires like the United States and China are unlikely to go thru major change from within, but wished him luck.

Robert Gourlay's bust
behind card table
petitions of 2011

Then I joined the small throng in front of the gazebo. An incredibly friendly, charismatic and articulate young woman was holding forth, and for the first time I experienced the human microphone. Every short sentence was repeated by many in the crowd, and the effect was like a catechism. I found it immensely spiritual and participatory. The crowd wasn't really large enough to need the human mic, but the experience itself was sufficiently transformative to justify its use. I was a bit embarrassed to vocalize, altho I did chime in a few times, and I very much enjoyed the finger waggling signifying agreement.

puffin on a glove
waggles assent
among frozen fingers

Most present weren't wearing gloves on a day barely above freezing, even at 1:30 in the afternoon. A middle-aged guy joined me after Chase gave him his approval. A woman with a cute little poodle adorned with a pink ribbon - Chase is always sweet on this type ;  ) - chatted with us as well.

bakery fresh bagels
from a clear plastic bag:
love offering

I declined the bagel, as I'd had a substantial brunch, but both my human companions shared the park's tempting eucharist.

A crazy guy in a bizarre hat and outfit commandeered the gazebo, and ranted inanities. The charismatic woman let him rave on, until he ran out of steam. The dialogue with the human microphone resumed. The charismatic woman beamed constantly while she gave a report on possible alternative campsites for the movement. Then the agenda turned to the upcoming realities of the rapidly approaching evictions.

Occupiers were assigned colours and locations, red were those willing to be peacefully arrested, orange were those undecided about risking arrest, and greens were those not wishing to be arrested.

A woman near us asked if it was wise to have occupiers put their names on a list of potential arrestees, as this would give the police a veritable shopping list. With her was a young guy, face masked with a black bandanna, and a tall studentish man.

I hadn't understood the colour differences, and the three explained them. The tall 'student' said he was an orange, undecided about getting arrested. I told him he should consider it, 'like doing acid', good to do once or twice in a lifetime for the experience, but not a good ongoing lifestyle choice. The three of them laughed, and bandanna man lifted his mask to reveal a very friendly grin.

I told them I'd been arrested many times as a politikal activist, and that tho I'm glad I particpated in politikal actions when I was their age, at age 63 and living out of town, I didn't want to go thru the hassle today.

Leaving the park, three security looking guys lurked 'with bad intent'. I gave them a 'once over', which made them the target of discomfort for a change.

Leaving the park
a whiff of pot smoke
and paranoia

I'm glad I finally managed a visit. It was both engaging and disappointing. The crowd was much smaller than expected, and there wasn't a sign of the so-called union support promised. A phalanx of several dozen, or better, hundred, burly steelworkers in jackets would have given the motley hippie/student/street people some sense of physical and moral support. The occupation lacked an obvious unionist presence, as well as a  lack of middleclass, 'normal' Torontonians.

The Occupy Movement is developing the next generation of idealists and activists, the next Judy Rebbicks or Rick Salutins and hopefully Jack Laytons. Leadership skills are being learned by the minute, and young demonstrators are earning their bones in protesting, police harassment and neoliberal monopoly capitalist politiks.

This isn't the revolution I had hoped to find, an inclusive citizenry banding in the final days before the fall of our wounded system. It IS the defining moment of the next generation of advocates for a more humane society. I wish them well.

peace & poetry power!
Chris Faiers ... and Chase ... wroooooooooooooooooooooooof!!!
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nov. 21, 2011   

Saturday 19 November 2011

true People's Poetry is in the parks with Occupy

Hi Conrad,
Thanks, once again, for adding a rip tide or two to Riffs & Ripples. Everything needs stirring up from time to time to keep the waters clean & the currents moving. Thanks also for letting me post your piece on my blog.

Yeah, the whole Occupy movement at first seemed formless to many, but mainly just inchoate to me. I can see so many influences of other populist & progressive movements, even in these earliest stages: the Civil Rights Movement, nationalist independence movements like India,  gay rights, feminism, even, as you alluded to in your poem, the sexual revolution. There are also some strong, new & very welcome, elements to this movement, foremost being its insistence on democracy, to the extent of often being overly democratic or ultrademocratic - an interesting departure from the 'great men' style of leadership many of the '60s movements fell into. This avoidance of self-procalimed leaders is refreshing.

Also the presence of First Nations people keeping a spirit flame. In Canada (Kanada?) this shameful part of our history has only begun to be addressed. (A FAIR COUNTRY by John Ralston Saul an excellent source)

With so many issues, the Occupy movement has wisely chosen the inclusive slogan WE ARE THE 99%. This is true People's Power, which should be the basis for all true People's Poetry. Milton Acorn organized a free speech movement in Toronto's parks in the early '60s, and I'm sure Milt is smiling somewhere. Milt's strongest totem creatures were ravens and and crows, and I was pleased to see their presence in your poem  : ) 

If Milt were alive in human form, I know he'd be down at one of the camps reading his poetry. Shouting it, more likely  :  )  I SHOUT LOVE, or YOU GROWING, poem after poem.

I feel badly that I haven't been to the camps yet, but I intend to visit St. James Park within the next day or so. I'm driving into TO soon to participate in the tribute to Raymond Souster at Runnymede Public Library on Tuesday evening, so once in TO I'll have no excuse for not participating in Occupy.

I have fantasies of sitting under a tree & reading (or shouting) poems from Milt's MORE POEMS FOR PEOPLE to share the poetry of Canada's best poet with this new generation of progressive activists. Perhaps some other poets & I can eventually organize a group poetry reading or somesuch in the park, or even better, maybe some of the Occupiers will join in reading their own work, or in sharing more of Milt's and maybe Big Al's poetry. There's a support Occupy reading at a TO cafe this Sunday, but the real spirit of People's Poetry is best shared in the open air of the people's commons, the parks of Toronto, with a crow or raven or two cawing appreciatively overhead.

gotta go, company arrived, Chase barking
peace & poetry power!
Chris ... and Chase ...wroooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooofffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff!!!


          
On 2011-11-19, at 9:59 AM, Conrad DiDiodato wrote:

Conrad DiDiodato has left a new comment on your post ""Occupy: a softening and a relenting (perhaps)" - ...":

Thanks, Chris

Maybe you can take the man out of socialism but never the socialist out of the man

For some reason this whole "Occupy" thing doesn't sit well with me, & I just can't seem to give a straightforward explanation for it: one day for, one day against. My idea of Occupy is the Al Purdy statue at Queen's Park. I think it's about time people's poets took back our poetry from the academics who stole & bastardized it in the name of experimentalism. I'd love to see a good ol'fashioned 'occupy' of academia.

But, again, my thanks to you for publishing my scribblings here &, more importantly, for putting up my anti-Occupy rants in your comment streams. As you would say,
"Wrrrrooooooooooooooooooooooffffff"



Posted by Conrad DiDiodato to Riffs & Ripples from ZenRiver Gardens at 19 November 2011 06:59

Friday 18 November 2011

Being a library CEO sucks ...

from: The Belleville Intelligencer

Next up, CEO number four

By W. Brice McVicar

Posted 1 hour ago
The city's public library is taking the next step in finding yet another a chief executive officer to take on the post that three other full-time CEO's have vacated.

Library board vice chairman Coun. Garnet Thompson said advertisements for the position will be published within the next week after an internal campaign to fill the post is concluded. Currently, Trevor Pross is serving in an interim capacity in the position.
Pross was named to the job after Lesley Bell resigned in August.
"The library board has authorized to go ahead with advertising for a new CEO and we're going to start that process," said Thompson.
The ideal candidate must have a library degree but should also be able to stay up-to-date with the changing times when it comes to libraries, he said. The city has lessened some of the burden on the position with the city hall information technology department handling all IT aspects and the municipality taking over the bookkeeping jobs, he added.
"We're looking for someone who has some broad experience. If we can get someone who's trying to come up through the ranks that would be fine, but we need someone willing to get us out in the community a little more and can look for other avenues for funding," he said.
Thompson said the goal is to have someone named to the position by March or April.

Since opening the new library at the corner of Campbell and Pinnacle streets, the city has seen a number of people fill the CEO position. Long-time librarian Leona Hendry retired in 2007 and was replaced by Mark Gagnon. Gagnon's tenure was cut short after two-and-a-half years when he was fired, a move that was clouded in secrecy with neither Gagnon or the city ever disclosing the reasons behind the dismissal.

In February 2010 Lesley Bell was hired as the library's CEO. Hired on an 18-month contract, Bell left on the last day of that contract, a move that was disputed as being either her own decision or a mutual
agreement between Bell and the board.
bmcvicar@intelligencer.ca
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Comments on this Article. 


It's a helluva job being a head librarian/CEO - not at all what one would expect. I was driven out of this position by one village library board, & wrongfully dismissed by another. I know of many other library CEOs who have gone thru this painful experience, thanks in large part to the finicky nature of untrained & unprofessional volunteer library boards. Even if library staff are lucky enough to be unionized, the CEO usually isn't included in the bargaining unit, & suffers at the whims of these appointees without union protection.
Chris Faiers
Marmora, ON