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Ode to Cathedrals

Jacques Brel's Poetry

Here is some Jacques Brel, to enjoy reading and to listen to.

Video/Audio of Le Plat Pays.

Le Plat Pays Avec la mer du Nord pour dernier terrain vague Et les vagues de dunes pour arrêter les vagues Et de vagues rochers que les marées dépassent Et qui ont à jamais le cœur à marée basse Avec infiniment de brumes à venir Avec le vent de l'ouest écoutez le tenir Le plat pays qui est le mien Avec des cathédrales pour uniques montagnes Et de noirs clochers comme mâts de cocagne Où des diables en pierre décrochent les nuages Avec le fil des jours pour unique voyage Et des chemins de pluie pour unique bonsoir Avec le vent d'est écoutez le vouloir Le plat pays qui est le mien Avec un ciel si bas qu'un canal s'est perdu Avec un ciel si bas qu'il fait l'humilité Avec un ciel si gris qu'un canal s'est penduv Avec un ciel si gris qu'il faut lui pardonner Avec le vent du nord qui vient s'écarteler Avec le vent du nord écoutez le craquer Le plat pays qui est le mien Avec de l'Italie qui descendrait l'Escaut Avec Frida la blonde quand elle devient Margot Quand les fils de Novembre nous reviennent en Mai Quand la plaine est fumante et tremble sous Juillet Quand le vent est au rire, quand le vent est au blé Quand le vent est au sud, écoutez le chanter Le plat pays qui est le mien

The Flat Country With the North Sea for the last bit of waste land And the waves of dunes to stop the waves And the shapeless rocks that the tides pass over And who forever have their heart at low tide With an infinity of mists still to come With the wind from the west listen to it hold The flat country that is mine With cathedrals for its only mountains And black church towers for greasy poles Where devils in stone unhook the clouds With the passing of the days for the only journey And roads of rain for the only good evening With the wind from the east listen to it want The flat country that is mine With a sky so low that a canal lost itself With a sky so low that it acts humiliated With a sky so gray that a canal hung itself With a sky so gray that you just have to forgive it With the wind from the north that comes tearing itself through With the wind from the north listen to it break The flat country that is mine With a little of Italy which will climb down the Escaut With Frida the blond when she becomes Margot When the sons of November return to us in May When the plain is steaming and trembles under July When the wind is for laughter, when the wind is for the wheat When the wind is from the south, listen to it sing The flat country that is mine

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Warhol's Universe

Mastery over the stars

Andy Warhol, Silver Liz as Cleopatra, 1963

Silver paint, silk-screen ink and pencil on linen

The small but effective Andy Warhol Supernova: Stars, Deaths and Disasters exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario ended just after I got a chance to visit it. There were a few bonuses for this delay, including a free audio device with commentary by David Cronenberg, who acted as guest curator.

Warhol was a savvy promoter. He did work as a graphic illustrator for various agencies before becoming "an artist." The medium he eventually settled on, silk-screening, avoids all the meticulousness and time required for painting or drawing. And unlike photography, there is no attempt at continuously and obsessively trying to get the perfect image.

One of the things that always struck me about Warhol's silk-screens was how his images started off grid-like and relatively unblemished, with each image squeegeed with more-or-less the same amount ink. Then, progressively near the end, they are full of smears and overlaps.

My only conclusion was that he wants to degenerate his subjects, destroy them. Not only that, he wants to destroy the "work" altogether. I think that his lazy and controlling nature spawned this proclivity for destruction. Since he cannot make a masterpiece, he may as well dramatize his incompetence by destroying it. I've noticed such a tendency toward degeneration by many "artists" who have forfeited mastery and skill for self-expression, which eventually portrays itself as outrage and destruction.

Warhol's unimpassioned car crashes and race riots silk-screens are really a camouflage for his real interest – his desire to control creation and destruction all at once. He cannot be those Hollywood stars, so he may as well create, then destroy them, from his alternate Hollywood in his New York art studios.

It seems his whole being was infused in finding his own star. He certainly found something, albeit longer than the fifteen minutes he predicted for everyone else. But then, he was always a savvy self-promoter.

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Warhol's Icons

Heeding the warnings of Byzantine Emperors

Golden Marilyn, 1962

I've been busy these past few days, with visitors and also updating my website and completing a design study. I'll be posting on those soon.

Meanwhile, a lot has been going on. The Pope initiated a scholarly dialogue about Islam, and has had to make some amends with public relations meetings with Muslim leaders.

He quoted a Byzantine Emperor’s interaction with a Persian scholar, on the nature of Mohammed.

An exhibition entitled Andy Warhol / Supernova Stars, Deaths and Disasters is currently on show at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Now, there is a connection somewhere, which I will try to elaborate in a later blog entry and possibly an essay.

Mainly, that Warhol, who was Byzantine Catholic, produced some very iconic-like works which are reminiscent of the Byzantine religious imagery.

If the Byzantine Emperor were to see Warhol’s imagery, given that his Empire went through the infamous Iconoclastic period where icons were destroyed following the 10th commandment’s ordinance against worshiping graven images:

Exodus 20:4-5 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them

I wonder what he would think of Warhol’s art? And does art like Warhol put Christian civilizations at risk for the kind of Islamic invasions the Byzantine Emperor was describing?

The whole of Warhol’s life, and not just his art, appears to be forsaking these very Biblical verses. He made iconic images of famous stars and people who were the subject of admiration, at the very least, by great numbers of people, including himself.

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St. Paul's Conversion

Depictions in Images

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Left, Conversion on the Way to Damascus,Caravaggio,1601


Right,The Conversion of Saul, Fresco by Michelangelo, 1542-45


[Click on images to see larger versions]

And here is a late Medieval one by a less-well-known French painter Jean Fouquet (Paul's Conversion). Less emotional, but still full of symbolism. And Saul's horse is ever present. I couldn't find detailed information on it, but I think it is part of an illuminated manuscript, with the curved writing at the top, and the simple formality of its design.

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The Road to Damascus

Our daily reminder

Paul's conversion occurred while he was traveling to Damascus to continue his persecution of the early Christians. His earliest preaching was conducted in this city. It is profoundly ironic that this first city of Paul’s evangelization has become such a tormented region. The latest attack on the American Embassy by yet another Muslim terrorist group Jund al-Sham is reminiscent of the persecutions that Paul faced.

There is nothing more jarring than reading the latest violence occurring in those Biblical sites. Early persecutions mimic modern-day ones. The story is the same - an attempt to annihilate the new belief that Paul taught and spread. Perhaps there is a reason for this incessant battle. To remind us that every day is a battle against sinners and destroyers. The larger allegory fits our smaller, mundane, lives.

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The Red and the White of it All

The Pope on matters of life and death

Well, now the Pope can add this “Saturno” hat to his red Prada shoes.

As always, fashion and function will be points of contention. I think the Pope understands and appreciates too well their junction. Wide rimmed hat, for protection against the sun. Comfortable, well-made Italian shoes, for walking in!

But, true to the core of the new Pope, he also had something to say about Canada’s stance on same-sex marriage and abortion.

These were his exact words:

In the name of tolerance your country has had to endure the folly of the redefinition of spouse, and in the name of freedom of choice it is confronted with the daily destruction of unborn children.

The Pope has standards, as his attire and his words clearly demonstrate.

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Which One is Fatima?

A Muslim family snap shot

Over at the View from the Right there is an image of a group of women in long, dark hijabs being photographed by a crouching man in a white robe with a white skull cap (Muslim, of course.)

What a study of contrasts!

- One man vs. several women.


- The dark, heavy clothes of the women vs. the man's light and airy robe and sandals - it does look like spring or summer from the background jean and t-shirt clad people.


- The indistinguishable women vs. the clearly identifiable man.


- The streamlined, almost militaristically aligned women vs. the man with his daintily arranged fingers on the camera who, despite his precariousness, is obviously in charge.

All this begs the question, "Which one is Fatima?"

And why does "Fatima" put up with this?

Incomprehensible from our standpoint. And all jokes aside:

"Do you think these people are compatible with our civilization?"

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It's All in the Visuals

What we can learn from small books

For such a large vision, this sure is a small manifestation!

"My fundamental Rights in the European Union", a booklet handed out by the Directorate General for Justice, Freedom and Security doesn't measure up. A mere 3.5cm, or 1.5".

Didn't Hitler and Mao have equally diminutive publications?

It is time Europeans reassess their position on the EU. It is all in the design (of the booklet, that is.) Size matters.

More at The Brussels Journal.

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I Am African

No, I'm Gwyneth Paltrow

From Angelina to Gwyneth to Lucy Liu. Even Iman is in on this.

All in the name of good works.

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The Politics of Design

The design of politics

William Morris, Jasmine Wallpaper

Politics is a popular occupation. By that I mean it requires a mingling with the general public. Even at its most elitist, when Kings and Queens were born into that specific family, its whole being depended on the people. Which went from the lowly peasant who shouted "God save the King" to the conspiring attendants in court. Without people, there would be no politics.

This is the same with art and design. Artists and designers these days conveniently forget this.

William Morris was one such designer who combined his art and his politics almost leaving no discernable line between the two.

He was one of the founders of the British Arts and Crafts movement, which eventually also influenced American designers. He made wallpapers, fabric, carpets, and even published poems and novels.

His lofty insistence on making only hand-crafted objects, eschewing the machine-made demands of the day, earned him a great reputation.

His designs are still popular today.

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The Pope's Joy

A lighter touch on the world

Pope Benedict XVI, in these dark days of war and violence, has made a statement that will surely confuse many followers.

"I'm not a man who constantly thinks up jokes. But I think it's very important to be able to see the funny side of life and its joyful dimension and not to take everything too tragically," he said. "I'd also say it's necessary for my ministry."

I find his use of the word "tragically" extremely wisely chosen. Tragic seems to encompass a dramatization of an event, blowing it up to an extreme. It seems to deny hope, and is based on some kind of condemnation and anger at something. It also seems to go on for ever – sometimes a lifetime.

And this is the Pope who has been accused of enjoying life, with his red Prada shoes – still unconfirmed, his Serengeti sunglasses, and his white Apple iPod. All gifts.

All this goes very well with his love of Mozart and cats.

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Blurring God

Through imagery

The Evangelical Outpost has some insights on the importance of the image. The Reuters debacle, with the photoshopped smokes (rubber stamp tool) sent a wave of skepticism about newspapers and their photographs. There is really nothing new in this. Images have been used as much to instruct and inform as to manipulate and deceive.

But, the blogger goes on to quote David Boorstein, author of "The Image":

By a diabolical irony the very facsimiles of the world which we make on purpose to bring it within our grasp, to make it less elusive, have transported us into a new world of blurs.

In other words, do images make the world more real to us, or less so? Does a photograph of Niagara Falls replace the real thing? Does it bring it closer to us?

More interestingly, though, something which The Evangelical Outposter didn't pick up on, how about all those Christian imagery we have, all the pietas, all the crucifixions, all the scenes from the Gospels? This is very different from idolatry, since these images are not to be worshipped, but act as a way of reminding us of those stories and episodes of the New and Old Testaments.

But do they bring us closer to God, or are they mere blurring effects?

The evolution in Christianity has always been to have less and less representational imagery, and depend more on the experienced reality of Christ.

I'm not sure if this is a good thing, since the efforts of a great artist who depicts these scenes is not only to represent reality, but to transmit some of its holiness and awesomeness as well.

But, maybe, just a simple, undecorated, unglamorous Church does a better job of allowing us to experience that reality. Perhaps praying in the Sistine Chapel could be a challenge – the beauty of those paintings might actually blur and compete with our real experience of God.

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Sketches of Ontario

The Simcoes of Upper Canada

Niagara Falls, Elizabeth Simcoe

"... These scenes have afforded me so much delight that I class this day with those in which I remember to have felt the greatest pleasure from fine objects, whether of Art or Nature ... " Elizabeth Simcoe, 1793

Summer is scattered with holidays. This Monday is Simcoe Day, or Civic Holiday, for most Ontarians, named in honour of the first Lieutenant-Governor, John Graves Simcoe, of Upper Canada (1791-1796.)

His wife, Elizabeth Simcoe, recorded her impressions of Canada through a diary, sketches and watercolors.

The Simcoes returned to England, in 1796.

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Heresy, Donkey Style

Bresson’s contempt for Christ

I've noticed that many non-Christians have a Jesus complex. John Lennon was famous for saying that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus." And I've heard artists say things like "I am god", when they really mean "I am God." In other words, supreme creators.

Well, after seeing several Bresson films, and reviewing both internet and book sources about his views, methods and background, I can only conclude that Bresson himself has a Christ complex.

This is most apparent in his film about a donkey "Au Hazard Balthazar."

As one writer put it:

The Christ-like nature [of Balthazar's suffering] is particularly evident in the scenes where Balthazar is baptized, where he leads the funeral cortege, and where he dies among a flock of sheep, a Lamb of God.1

Bresson seems to confuse the donkey with the humble beast that carried Mary to the stable, and Jesus through Jerusalem. But just as those who mean "I am God", when they actually say "I am god", I think Bresson is clear about his intentions. He doesn’t mean the beast of burden, he means Christ himself.

Now, why should it bother me that Bresson uses a lowly donkey to present a Christ-like figure?

Because he has the behavior all wrong.

Christ was never meek, silent nor submissive, like this donkey is portrayed. Yes, the donkey gallops off once in a while (maybe just once) at the atrocities performed against him, but for the most part, he just stays and bears it.

Christ came to suffer, with fellow-men, certainly. But he also came to teach, and to provide a point for salvation. And He wasn't a meek secondary character who silently watched humanity move in its destructive course.

So, what's Bresson's point?

Subtly, by playing at our emotions, Bresson is trying to capture our sympathy for this innocuous donkey.

By implication, this then means that Jesus, who is as "lovable" as this donkey, is also as ineffective.

Therefore, the most we can feel for this donkey/Christ is a sense of pity, and eventually, like I did, contempt.

Bresson’s heretic message, by making us subliminally dislike this little beast, is actually that Christ is as equally offensive and ineffective.

And worse. Bresson might indeed have this Christ complex where he deems himself and his creations greater than the Son of God Himself. And he has to find a way to diminish Him.


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¹ Lindley Hanlon. Fragments: Bresson's Film Style. Rutherford [N.J.]Press, c1986.

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The Evil that Lurks in Bresson’s Films

Is sin relative?

I've always been bothered by Bresson's films ever since I watched a whole retrospective of them at the Cinematheque Ontario a few years back.

Well, thanks to TFO (la télévision éducative et culturelle de l'Ontario français - as their website describes it), there have been a few Bresson films to watch recently.

Two that I taped, and watched at least twice – more if I include the repeat shows later during the week - are "Au Hazard Balthazar" and "Mouchette".

I've even consulted a couple of books from the library[1,2] to elucidate to me the greatness of these films.

Needless to say, it is very difficult to find any negative criticism of Bresson's films. This is hardly surprising, since most of his critics are the type that would never watch a "Hollywood movie", let alone a film as romantically glossy as "Black Beauty".

My only conclusion is that Bresson believes in degrees of sin. He starts from the truly wilful sinners and goes on to those that seem to sin as though some automatic hand were guiding them to expose their weakness.

He seems to say that the hard and deprived life Mouchette leads might be the reason for her weakness. The evil around her (her alcoholic father, Arsène who rapes here) act as an explanation for her "unwilled" sins and her final act of suicide.

With "Au Hazard Balthazar", he sets the backdrop of a donkey as a saint (what do animals know of sin, anyway?) and contrasts it with truly unsavoury characters who then appear to downplay the waywardness of those who once again seem to act on unconscious automation. Thus, Balthazahr is the saint, Marie performs sin as a reaction to her environment, and Gérard is the true evil.

Bresson excuses this secondary category, those with unwilled waywardness. They’re close to being good, he says, so their breech from righteousness is not their fault.

I think this is the mindset of someone who tries to defy God, who tries to rewrite God’s word, and who is so self-centered or arrogant to consider his "petits péchés" worthy of correction, or even expiation. These small deviations can add up to bigger ones, as we witness with Mouchette's demise.

Finally, if he believes in degrees of sin, where Marie, who succumbs to Gérard’s evil seductions is less sinful than Gérard (who beats the donkey and later Marie) because she "can’t help herself", then he has entered dangerous territory.

It is dangerous to relativise sin. To each his own, and to each his own exit, is the only mindset that works.


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1. The Films of Robert Bresson. Ed. Ian Cameron. Praeger Inc., NY, 1970


2. Robert Bresson : a spiritual style in film. Joseph Cunneen. Continuum , New York, 2003.

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A Tale of Two Movies

About animals

Anna Sewell’s novel Black Beauty has been made into several films. The one I watched was the 1994 version, in splendid color.

Robert Bresson’s tale of a donkey - Au Hasard Balthazar (1966) – comes in grim black and white.

I know there is a danger of over-romanticizing stories, but ultimately it is the writer who chooses the mood, message and content (and the ending) of the story.

Bresson gives us a cute, underdeveloped, mute donkey who really becomes the silent beast of burden. Bresson’s script revolves around a group of unsavoury, narcissistic characters. I don’t even know why he put in the donkey, other than perhaps to garner our sympathy towards him despite this acrid and bitter storyline.

Sewell’s story tells us of the redemptive powers of life, and of people. Animals suffer, but somehow, somewhere, a small miracle occurs when just the right master (despite the gruelling job) appears on the scene.

Like I said, romanticizing animal life can get a little tedious, but I would rather Sewell’s morality tale of a black stallion to Bresson’s silent mockery of a poor donkey.

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The Whimsy of Design

Stig Lindberg

Interlocking leaf design on ceramic plate

Here's a lull (only) from the regular architecture and society blogs I've been posting for a little while now...

I always associate Scandinavian design with light, pastel colors. Perhaps it is their way of dealing with the dark, long winters. Or, as I find the case to be here in Toronto, the sun does shine brightly in winter, and the white snow does give a light, airy glow to the surroundings.

Swedish designer Stig Lindberg's works are currently on display at the National Museum in Sweden. What comes across are whimsical, humorous ceramics and textiles with the ever-present touch of color.

One of the mandates of the Swedish Cooperative Union and Wholesale Society, which bought out the struggling Gustavesberg porcelain factory for whom Lindberg worked, was to produce aesthetically pleasing, high quality products for ordinary consumers. Lindberg was immensely successful with that vision, and the cooperative profitted accordingly.

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Vases and cups

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Although designers always take themselves seriously, Lindberg apparently took himself seriously with a dosage of humor and whimsy. His designs come out as playful, elegant and intelligent. With of course the requisite color added in for our bonus.

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Clever monochromatic (almost) print, and Stig's pottery on textile

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From Sea, to Sea, to Sea

Canada's Threesome

Canadian Museum of Civilization

Canada's motto "from sea to sea" is being considered for a change to "from sea to sea to sea" at the request of the northern territories (which are predominantly Indian).

This third "sea" includes the Artic Ocean, which is now probably going to hold the same position as the other two - the Pacific and the Atlantic - in defining the "Canadian landscape", both geographically and culturally.

I don't know if this is such a great idea, but here is a very clear instance of what we should expect of the future of Canada.

During a wonderful hiatus in Ottawa, I visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization twice. Each time, I was overwhelmed by the architecture and the location.

What struck me here was not the three seas, as much as three peoples - the French, the English and the Indian - which the museum tries to depict (or better incorporate). Unfortunately, though, at the rate all this is going, there is going to have to be many other "seas" created to accommodate what we've seen of the Haitian, the Chinese, the East Indians, and the list goes on.

The building itself is a unique, almost incongruent, mass. It looks like moulded, rounded hills, all white and textured and beautiful. Douglas Cardinal, the architect, who is part native Indian, said his intention was just that: to bring out the natural elements of rock and erosion into a symbolic building.

Sitting in Hull, Quebec, facing the Parliament Hill, this imposing building tries to unite these three elements of Canadian life (the Indian, the French and the English) in a forceful way.

Yet, there is little, really, joining these distinctly three "solitudes".

Each is imposing in its own way, but a simple bridge from Hull to Ottawa while sitting on Quebec land does not merge these three, and the museum's "organic" structure is just as alien to the Parliament Hill’s pinnacled rooftops as it is to the artificial bilingualism enforced in its interior - how does that let the real Quebec inside?

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Parliament Hill from Musuem ...............Bridge across the Ottawa River

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Nonethelss, it is a brave project, which has given us a uniquely beautiful and imposing building.

Unlike the new Toronto opera house's architect, this one is certainly no weak character.

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Monty Pythonesque

The funniest story in the world: Script

On December 8, 1978, two Zairian air force jets approached Kinshasa, the capital. The tower radioed the pilots, telling them they couldn’t land because of low visibility. The pilots, presented with this problem, ejected from their planes and parachuted to safety. The perfectly good—and very expensive—Mirage jets crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. Problem solved.

Via VFR,where a cogent analysis is given about a story originally posted at NRO.

It is funny, but...

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Glass at the ROM

Déco Lalique

Bowl [with intertwining fish design], press-moulded opalescent glass, "Martigues" model. French, Lalique, model introduced in 1920.

The Royal Ontario Museum is displaying another type of glass. The elegant, decorative Lalique designs are on view until January 2007, which is around the time when the new Crystal extension will be completed.

The early 20th century designer understood beauty and style. It is a pity that he wasn't the architect of the 21st century glass debacle - The Crystal.

Still, I am thankful that a supporting structure is being built which will hopefully house many more of these Lalique-type exhibitions in the future.

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Commerce over Spirit

The New Royal Ontario Museum Extension

The Crystal addition

[All images can be clicked to view larger ones]

Architects these days are spending an inordinate amount of energy building delicate glass structures. And Daniel Libeskind, chosen for the ROM project, already had a dubious attempt at designing one.

He somehow got unofficially elected to build the “Freedom Tower” where the World Trade Center once stood. But his design later appeared so unstable that a second architect - David Childs - was put in charge to solidify it.

Original Freedom Tower design..............New Freedom Tower design

The Crystal at the ROM will have no such problems. Libeskind opted for sturdy rather than delicate. I would have called it “The Tank”, like Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin. Libeskind is cultivating some kind of tradition, after all. But unlike the Freedom Tower whose faulty structure only architects could see, we the public will forever wonder if these discombobulated cubes will cave in on us.

I’m astonished that the Berliner Jews allowed their sacred, Biblical sign to be so irreverently disfigured. Libeskind’s various slits for windows are parts and pieces of the lines that make the disjointed Star of David.

Libeskind's Jewish Museum in Berlin

There is no concern for the sacred when designing the ROM extension. But should there be? I don’t know what it is with architects in Toronto. Diamond (of the Toronto Opera House fame) complained about lack of funds, when it is more likely a lack of talent. What is Libeskind’s excuse? I must conclude that at the heart of it is a propensity for selling himself, covering up the real problem which is once again a scarcity of artistic ability. Testament to this is his Freedom Tower debacle.

And it’s not only Toronto that is short-changed. One of the finalists for the New York project came up with a spiralling set of glass towers. The simple symbolics of two towers (joined in the middle) spiralling upwards, with light emitting into the dark heavens above (carrying the souls of the departed?), would have surely garnered the appreciation and thanks of New Yorkers and visitors.

Design by finalists Frederic Schwartz and Rafael Vinoly

from THINK Designs

The THINK blueprint was the original recommendation by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Instead, Libeskind’s salesmanship won the show. And he offered New York a faulty tower that's unable to carry the ghosts of the departed to their rightful place.

Once again, his ulterior motive becomes apparent. Salesmanship is easier than spirituality.

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Our Own Private Opera House

Toronto's Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts

Architect columnist for the Toronto Star, Christopher Hume, described the new Toronto Opera House (known as The Four Seasons Center for the Performing Arts, after the famous hotel of the same name, whose owner was a big donor) as "at least Le Corbusier would have approved".

Perhaps he means the famous Corbusier domino house prototype “Maison Dom-Ino” depicting tall vertical structures as “machines for living”. Or he may mean the functional low-income housing designs Corbusier initiated – now notorious for those French suburban Muslims who set off the riots last year.

Top: Dom-Ino Designs by Corbusier; Bottom Clichy Sous Bois low income houseing (HLM)

Or, in the ever-expanding lines of influence, perhaps the Toronto designer, Jack Diamond, did have a real, French Opera House in mind. But, it is likely the more recent Opera de la Bastille (which always reminded me of a giant swimming pool interior), not the grand old dame which Parisians still keep dear to their heart.

In any case, aesthetics and grandeur were not on the agenda. And what is opera without that?

Diamond talks about lack of funds in making some of his decisions. He also describes his desire for the building to blend in with the surroundings (to the extent that the back of the building resembles a

warehouse!).

But, I somehow think it was more of a lack of skill, coupled with a lack of imagination. Look at the environmentally attuned, beautiful Sydney Opera House.

Top: Opera de la Bastille; Middle: Opera National de Paris; Bottom: Sydney Opera House

But, if there is ever an equivalent center that is both modern and dignified, it is surely the Lincoln Center, which didn’t sacrifice anything for the sake of functionality and modernity.

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Blogging Wish List

Is that why we blog?

The Evangelical Outpost describes our (or rather his) inner conflicts regarding blogging. He says:

- We hope for. . . community. But we often reward ... individuality - We hope for. . . eternal perspective. But we often reward ... focus on the trivial and ephermeral - We hope for. . . depth and breadth of interest. But we often reward ... shallowness - and narrowness of concern - We hope for. . . wisdom. But we often reward ... foolishness - We hope for. . . unity. But we often reward ... division - We hope for. . . faith, hope, and love. But we often reward ... doubt, pessimism, and uncharitableness

I honestly made a concerted effort to avoid all the traps the Evangelical Outpost says we eventually fall into. See for yourselves!

I think blogging is serious. It is not really an online diary (at least not in the expected sense). For me, it has been a way to articulate many ideas, concerns and events that have affected me either negatively or positively.

I really do try to follow my blog heading: "A place to explore and shed light on how art, culture and society converge".

I think there are serious things going on in the world. By writing about them I try to find the missing (or insightful) links.

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Another Symbolic Gesture

This time falls afoul

From Canada's MacLeans magazine - not online - "Draft and dodge controversy":

The Welcoming Peace Sculpture, featuring a Canadian greeting U.S. draft dodgers, was commissioned by a Nelson, B.C., resident for an anti-war festival. But when some U.S. veterans threatened a tourism boycott against the town, Nelson city council said it couldn’t go on public land. Then, there were rumors that nearby Castlegar and its peace-loving Doukhobor residents were going to take it off Nelson’s hands. But now, the matter has been settled and the statue will sit in ht front yard of Ernest Hekkanen, a draft dodger from Seattle who lives in Nelson. (The final nine-foot bronze will be unveiled in July).

The sculpture shows a man (a Canadian?) warmly greeting another man (an American draft dodger?) while a woman looks nervously behind her shoulder. This symbolic gesture of pandering to traitors was fortunately nixed by worthy Canadians and Americans.

Ernest Hekkanen can keep his garden troll, if he wishes.

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Lilac Imprints

Preserving memory, but Is that enough?

Repeat Pattern for textile or

wallpaper print of "Lilac Bush"

One of the many ways that we can remember things is by making records of them. Ironically, the demolished building from my previous post was already a record of the past.

I'm not sure what will replace this building, probably a high rise since the neighboring building is one also. There has been also a construction spree going on throughout the downtown.

Blogger Dispatches from the Hogtown Front talks about the skyscraperization of Toronto, at least the downtown part. His point is that it is probably increased levels of immigration that is fuelling this rapid increase in development.

Although Hogtown Front talks about the encroachment into green areas, where farmland and delicate natural sanctuaries are being destroyed, how different is that from demolishing attractive, sturdy buildings of some historical significance?

Geography and culture are being eroded for the sake of accommodating people from miles away with no compassion, understanding or even love for the real Canada.

I think the issues are more subtle than urban sprawl caused by immigration. Unlike ever before, new immigrants are transforming the symbols of this country into things totally alien to any of the residents here. Even within the immigrant population, these symbols are not interchangeable. What we’re witnessing is replacement not for the better, but by the different, and in many cases for the worse.

Well, my small part has been to inadvertently record this, and what better way than as a textile design, full of the comfort, texture and tradition of cloth.

A larger part will take some thought.

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Lilac Memories

An Early Intuition

I was struck by this beautiful stone house late last spring. There were a lot of contrasts that attracted me: the light grey walls with the dark outlines around the windows, the lilac bush's spontaneity and curvature alongside the rigid architecture of the building, the swirls under the balconies contrasted with the railings. Besides, it looked like a great study on dark charcoal drawing against a more colorful pastel palette.

After taking numerous photos, at various angles, I managed to come up with this cropping that seemed to work.

Here is the end result.

Yet, this year, while I walked along the street (Gerrard Street, just blocks away from Yonge), I came to this shocking discovery! The house was being demolished. And the beautiful lilac trees were gone.

I guess you can call it an early intuition. But, I'm very glad I took the time to make some kind of recorded memory of this understatedly beautiful house and its lovely Lilac trees.

Makes one wonder though, who gets to decide which building stays, and which one goes. I assume that the empty space will soon be filled by a bland high rise.

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Lilac

Temptations

Lilacs are the flowers of late May and early June. It is tempting to pick them from the road-side and park bushes. But, I will settle for photos instead.

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History Repeats Itself

How Islam is making a stealthy comeback

The Beautiful Byzantine Hagia Sophia, now under Muslim Turkey. Notice the Arabic calligraphy depicting sections of the Koran

Hagia Sophia is one of the most important, and earliest of the Christian churches. It was originally built during the 4th century in Constantinople – albeit burnt down and rebuilt in the 6th . When Muslim Turks conquered Constantinople, not only did they change the city’s name to Istanbul, but also converted this great church into a mosque.

Although now Hagia Sophia is a museum, there are some eerie reminders that it still really is in Muslim hands, especially with those discs of calligraphy in Arabic script scattered around.

This occurred in 1453. Yet, right under the eyes of European Catholics, Muslims are converting churches into mosques.

In Belgium now, illegal immigrants, with the blessings of Catholic bishops, are seeking refuge in churches.

But not only that, they are converting those churches into mosques.

Left, Muslim refuge, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Brussels.


Right, closeup of the banner showing Arabic script "Allah"

At least the Byzantines put up a fight. When will the Catholic bishops realize their supreme error?

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Exposing the Da Vinci Code

Christianity's Openness is no Match

Father Raymond De Souza has a great point in his National Post editorial yesterday (unfortunately, the article is not on line):

Faith does not require great intelligence, let alone academic credentials. It does require common sense, or better, a common wisdom. Indeed, the great liberating power of Judeo-Christian revelation was that it freed man’s transcendent character from the oppressive world of pagan religion, with its secret knowledge, godlike natural forces, arbitrary powers and fanciful myths and legends. The great innovation of biblical religion is that it is accessible to the common people[my italics].

The article also posted this Titian painting of a penitent Mary Magdalene.

Penitent St. Mary Magdalene, Titian. 1560s

The Da Vinci Code's secretive and exclusive position is slowly being exposed.

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Western Betrayal

Once is fine, but repeatedly?

It is interesting that two key women are in the news more or less at the same time.

Michaelle Jean, Canada's Governor General, is finishing up a trip to Haiti for the new president's inauguration. She received "royal" treatment there by her fellow-Haitians (no matter her actual citizenship, it is clear that she identifies herself with her former country).

And Ayaan Hirsi Ali, famous script-writer for the film that got director Theo Van Gogh assassinated, and outspoken critic of Islam’s treatment of women, is leaving the Netherlands for the United States.

Both women have been part of deep controversy. Jean’s nomination to her Governor General post started with surfacing videos about her associations with Quebec separatist leaders. Ali’s more recent controversy surrounds her fake application (false age, name and country of origin) to enter the Netherlands as a refugee.

Yet, what I find most striking about these two women is their apparent lack of loyalty to the countries that admitted them. Jean constantly identifies with Haiti, and Canada comes second place in many instances. Islam, and particularly Muslim women, have been Ali’s primary occupation. In fact she is leaving the Netherlands to the American Enterprise institute as, I would assume, an expert on Islam and women.

With these constant disappointments, and I would say betrayals, why are western countries so easily charmed by these women?

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Is the Governor General Haitian or Canadian?

Her Quick Trip Back to Haiti

Michaelle Jean, the Governor General who should really be occupying a behind-the-scenes role, is in the news yet again.

In a world full of symbolic reminders (her exact words are "we live in a world that needs symbols”), she is returning to the country she fled, to attend the inauguration of the new Haitian President.

She also says: “Sometimes symbols change things".

I wonder if that is her goal for Canada? By changing Canada’s symbols, is she trying to change Canada too?

Perhaps, people’s motives really are subconscious. Here is the Coat of Arms she presented for her governor generalship. Almost all the symbolisms are Haitian, from the false goddesses to the reference to the black slave. And our coast to coast to coast has now also included the Caribbean – in Jean's best of all possible worlds.

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South Park's Characters!

It is a very funny show!

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Cartman .....Starvin' Marvin .....Ike .........a Canadian ...... Chef

It's too bad Chef (of the school cafeteria) quit – the voice over actor, that is, due to disagreements over South Park’s portrayal of Scientology.

But, we have a new Chef in “The Return of Chef”.

And since when has South Park been easy on anyone?

There’s little Starvin’ Marvin from Ethiopia (or somewhere "out there") who mistakenly arrived in South Park instead of a promised watch for his "foster child" type sponsorship, and who eventually (and happily) returns home (via the FBI!).

And how about all those Canadian jokes...and faces – as in all Canadians look the same – with two half circles joined together for a face.

But then, they call Kyle’s little adopted Canadian brother Ike “Some kind of genius”.

And Starvin’ Marvin was no match for chubby Cartman, even in Cartman’s own home.

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