Lost & Found: An Evening of Storytelling

Last night the Gallery Connexion held its first storytelling event. The theme for the night was “lost & found”. The six storytellers for the evening included Erin Keating, Amanda Jardine, Andrew Sisk, Eric Hill and myself. The capacity crowd enjoyed what will hopefully be the first of many storytelling/spoken word events at the gallery. Big thanks to Eric Hill for setting it all up.

For my story, I chose one that I posted here last fall in written form. I call the story, “I’m the opposite of all those things”. This is my performance from last night’s event. Enjoy.

Well, it’s about time.

We finally decided to stop and visit Fort Beausejour today.  It’s sits along the Tantramar Marsh near the border with Nova Scotia.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve taken that drive and thought about stopping in there.  I’ve probably done that drive 100 times and never made the stop until today.  This wind-worn tree greets visitors to the site.

It’s a National Historical Site and has a pretty interesting history that you can read about in the museum.  It was originally a French fort built around 1750.  Shortly after it was built, the English built one nearby and the two sides would often trade goods, letters, women and gunfire.  Wild times.  Eventually, the English captured Fort Beasejour, dismantled their original fort across the marsh, expelled the French and kept a garrison there until sometime after the war of 1812. 

If you get a chance to make the stop, I suggest you do.  It’s worth it for the view alone.

 

Roof-top Patio

This is what happens on the roof of old cars, left to rust in the sun and rain.  Seriously.

Kingston Peninsula – Frog Capital of Canada?

Over the Victoria Day long weekend a bunch of us rented a cabin out on the Kingston Peninsula for three nights of hanging out and relaxing. Reading books, playing Yahtzee, and taking photos occupied most of our time.  It was great.

Not far from our cabin was a small pond.  Large enough for swimming but too small for a boat.  If you had a good pitching arm you could easily throw a rock to the other side.

I have never seen as many amphibians in various stages of growth as I saw in that pond.  When we first approached it, the entire sandy bottom came to life as thousands of fat tadpoles made a break for it.  As we walked along the edge the flutter and scurry of these little critters seemed endless.

I’ve never been a fan of frogs and in any stage of growth but since they were literally everywhere we walked, looked, sat, stood, and crouched, I figured I best just accept them.

In a few weeks that entire area will probably seem like a scene out of the bible.  A plague.  I’m glad we were there when we were.  Anyway, this is a picture of a frog we met along one of the walking trails as we battled the black flies in search of great photos and fresh air.  We found both.

Been a while

Janet spied this shot while we were out for a drive around Crabbe Mountain last weekend.  I couldn’t resist.

Whacky Tobacky

Anyone familiar with Saint John’s uptown area has seen this faded sign along the water front.  One of several reminders of Saint John’s storied past, I thought I’d try and learn a bit about Shamrock Tobacco and share it in my blog.  Sadly, no one seems to know much about it.  I’m guessing this sign was painted in the 40’s and all that Google can offer me besides a few tins and tobacco cutters on auction sites, are links to a few current tobacco shops in the US. 

I was however, not suprised to see this picture all over the internet as I appearantly am not the only one wondering about Shamrock Plug Tobacco.  The only other evidence I could find relating to this era of the company was part of a series of photographs on the history of the railroad in Nova Scotia. 

The image below was described as, “B & W Postcard Of Lunenburg Railway Wharf. In The Foreground At The Beginning Of The Wharf Is A Shed With A Sign The Reads “Smoke / Shamrock / Plug / Tobacco”. There Is A Pile Of Crates Outside Of The Shed And A Small Lying Right Side Up Just Outside The
24 Mar, 1916.

Maybe this painted sign on Water Street preceeds the 40’s?  Maybe it was painted closer to the turn of the century.  If you have any clues, I’d love to hear them.

Behind a Street’s Familiar Face

When I’m out wandering around looking for fun images to capture, I’ve had the best success exploring off the beaten path.  Side streets and alleys offer a view not seen by everyone and as a result, they usually produce a wealth of interesting shots.  This shot was taken just off one of the main streets in uptown Saint John.  The building’s colour against the bright blue sky remind me of some place far away where the weather in more inviting than January in Saint John, New Brunswick.

The Fox and the Miramichi

http://k002.kiwi6.com/hotlink/i96ehstvyt                                                                      The tune is called Dorothy Weldon.  I wrote it for an old woman from the Miramichi who died the day I went to meet her.  I’d heard she was a lovely woman.  She was a friend of a friend and someone I wish I’d met.

The recording was taken from a concert I played with the band Brollachan.  Although we don’t play anymore, I’m very proud of some of the music we created.  The piece is performed by my good friends and fellow musicians, Krista Touesnard (fiddle) and Carolyn Holyoke (piano).

Mr. Fox was someone we met today along the Branch Road, near my hometown of Geary, NB.

Self Portrait and more

http://k002.kiwi6.com/hotlink/xk90g0zmt7

This is a photo of Janet and I.  I snapped it mid-piggy back.  The sound file was recorded by a former boss of mine to demo the functions of his favorite electric piano.  Somehow the two work together.

An Automotive Retrospective – Part Four

Our next set of wheels was a Ford Granada purchased from my Uncle Stephen.  Stephen and his husband Allan were often assumed by us kids to be well-off, having both retired early in life to travel the world.  They always had nice cars and kept them in immaculate condition.

In my mid-teens I became fascinated with exotic European cars due in part to my close friend Derick who would play a heavy role in influencing my life.  Derick was once a serious car aficionado and the only one of my friends with an interest in European automobiles.  I think he even had a subscription to Road & Track magazine and that said something. Through him I gained a love for music, beer, and humor as well as an appreciation for foreign cars.

After witnessing a regular turn-over in Stephen and Allan’s vehicles of choice, and thinking that they could afford just about anything they wanted (this was before I had much understanding of finances), I decided to do my best to persuade them to purchase a fine set of European wheels.  Specifically, something from Germany.

BMWs, Mercedes, Porches and Audis had become somewhat of an obsession for me and I recall taking great pride in my ability to spot them and list their stats for anyone who would listen.  I talked cars regularly with my uncles and would often suggest they look into purchasing a nice BMW 535, stressing the fact that if they could, why wouldn’t they.

“Germany makes the best cars,” I’d say.  “Why not invest in a fine German automobile?  Those Germans, they really know what they’re doing.  I can’t believe you guys haven’t bought a Mercedes yet. I mean, they’re right up your alley.  Wow, Germany really have their shit together, huh?”

But the topic would quickly drift elsewhere and their seeming reluctance to share in my praise for all things German would eventually make sense to me.  Years later, when sharing my enthusiasm with Dad about how cool it would be if Stephen and Allan had a BMW, he reminded me that this would most likely never happen as Allan was Jewish and lost the majority of his immediate family in the Holocaust.  Open mouth – insert foot.

It seems to me we didn’t keep the Granada around for too long as it was no bigger than the Aspen and wasn’t really in the best of shape when we bought it.  In fact, all I can remember about it was that the back floor had rusted through in one place and I could see the ground skipping past as we drove.  It wasn’t long after we made this discovery that we retired the old girl and bought a brand new, top of the line Dodge Aries, also known as a K-Car.