Tuesday, 21 April 2020
Sunday, 12 April 2020
A Long Walk Today
It's nice and warm today, so I decided to go for a long walk. A bit over seven miles with my pack. Towards the end my legs were on fire. But hey, it was good for the soul.
Passed by some places today, some that I have never been to. Thought I'd share them here.
This is the entrance to Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, i.e. the Queen's representative. Normally part of it is open to the public at certain hours, but these are unusual times, and well, off limits now. It's quite an impressive sight, actually, I am guessing maybe 100 acres. If you should ever visit Ottawa, I would recommend a visit.
Outside Rideau Hall there's this very nice statue of QE II. Younger of course. Quite majestic, overlooking the Ottawa River and her domains.
Always wanted to come see this and pay my respects, but this is the first time I came by here. Glad I made the super long walk today. This is a monument commemorating the Canadian troops who defended Hong Kong in WW2. Yeah yeah I know how the Communists insists Hong Kong was "always" part of China -- fucking lies -- but of course in WW2 they didn't lift a finger to help defend Hong Kong. Canada answered the call, and sent almost 2,000 troops there. Only to be killed or captured and endured four years of POW camps.
BTW, if you didn't know, that's partly how MY story began. My mother was a Chinese spy who infiltrated the Japanese army, and helped supplied food and medicine to the Canadian POWs. After the war, she met my father who was a resistance fighter. And they got married. And how I came to be....
Thank you, Canada.
Passed by some places today, some that I have never been to. Thought I'd share them here.
This is the entrance to Rideau Hall, the official residence of the Governor General of Canada, i.e. the Queen's representative. Normally part of it is open to the public at certain hours, but these are unusual times, and well, off limits now. It's quite an impressive sight, actually, I am guessing maybe 100 acres. If you should ever visit Ottawa, I would recommend a visit.
Outside Rideau Hall there's this very nice statue of QE II. Younger of course. Quite majestic, overlooking the Ottawa River and her domains.
Always wanted to come see this and pay my respects, but this is the first time I came by here. Glad I made the super long walk today. This is a monument commemorating the Canadian troops who defended Hong Kong in WW2. Yeah yeah I know how the Communists insists Hong Kong was "always" part of China -- fucking lies -- but of course in WW2 they didn't lift a finger to help defend Hong Kong. Canada answered the call, and sent almost 2,000 troops there. Only to be killed or captured and endured four years of POW camps.
BTW, if you didn't know, that's partly how MY story began. My mother was a Chinese spy who infiltrated the Japanese army, and helped supplied food and medicine to the Canadian POWs. After the war, she met my father who was a resistance fighter. And they got married. And how I came to be....
Thank you, Canada.
Saturday, 4 April 2020
Listlessness
Sometimes you wake up and say to yourself, "Shit, man, it sucks." And the day goes from bad to worse from there on. Surely in the last couple of weeks we have all experienced this (if not, oops, I must be going stir crazy! But then, as a wise man once said, insanity is a minority of one). Anyway, so for solace, I turned to my favourite poet, Auden, and voila, here's a couple of verses that seem quite appropriate.
Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.
Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.
BTW, first prize goes to whoever can identify what this poem is. You can choose between what's behind door #1 or door #2.
*******************************************************
If you've been a bit downcast of late -- trust me, I know how it feels -- look at the bright side. I don't know about you, but my apartment has never been so clean! And I've binge watched so much British Crime TV shows that soon I will speak with a Manchester accent. Go United!
********************************************************
This is all very random, I confess. I can't seem to focus on much lately. I try not to follow the news. What's the point? It's just one bad thing after another. And school stuff don't interest me much -- well, I told you I hate this online shit, right? Anyway, here in Canada, we start the semester early, so classes are over now. Finals begin on Monday. I have one coming up on Tuesday, which I should be studying for instead of writing this. Haha. Well, I will just do it (it's online, no in person exams due to social distance) and whatever happens, happens.
So this social distance thing. It's a bit of a misnomer, no? The term actually has rather specific meaning in sociology. And of course in everyday nomenclature, we tend to actually think of social distance as you know, class distinctions and such? Hell, we don't need the damn virus to remind me of that. Just look at the GINI index.
Speaking of which, this is going to really make things so much worse for those at the bottom. Here in Canada, the federal government announced they will subsidize up to 75% of workers' income (up to a max of 50K a year or so) if they lost their jobs. Which is very generous, but really, how long can this last? I hope we have enough reserves to do this for the duration. Life won't be the same again, especially for gig workers. Well, at least here they have universal health care.
Hey, my friends, if you have means, consider sending whatever you can to help the local food bank. Many people can really use that help especially now. Let's together make things more tolerable. And let's hope we'll sail through this somehow.
*************************************************************
Let me end this entry with another one of Auden's pieces. I think it's good to end with one more expressive of love, though perhaps still a little dark as befits my state of mind. Hey this one was written a year after I was born -- I think I actually wrote it, but that's subject to dispute. See if you know what poem it is!
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
Unendowed with wealth or pity,
Little birds with scarlet legs,
Sitting on their speckled eggs,
Eye each flu-infected city.
Altogether elsewhere, vast
Herds of reindeer move across
Miles and miles of golden moss,
Silently and very fast.
BTW, first prize goes to whoever can identify what this poem is. You can choose between what's behind door #1 or door #2.
*******************************************************
If you've been a bit downcast of late -- trust me, I know how it feels -- look at the bright side. I don't know about you, but my apartment has never been so clean! And I've binge watched so much British Crime TV shows that soon I will speak with a Manchester accent. Go United!
********************************************************
This is all very random, I confess. I can't seem to focus on much lately. I try not to follow the news. What's the point? It's just one bad thing after another. And school stuff don't interest me much -- well, I told you I hate this online shit, right? Anyway, here in Canada, we start the semester early, so classes are over now. Finals begin on Monday. I have one coming up on Tuesday, which I should be studying for instead of writing this. Haha. Well, I will just do it (it's online, no in person exams due to social distance) and whatever happens, happens.
So this social distance thing. It's a bit of a misnomer, no? The term actually has rather specific meaning in sociology. And of course in everyday nomenclature, we tend to actually think of social distance as you know, class distinctions and such? Hell, we don't need the damn virus to remind me of that. Just look at the GINI index.
Speaking of which, this is going to really make things so much worse for those at the bottom. Here in Canada, the federal government announced they will subsidize up to 75% of workers' income (up to a max of 50K a year or so) if they lost their jobs. Which is very generous, but really, how long can this last? I hope we have enough reserves to do this for the duration. Life won't be the same again, especially for gig workers. Well, at least here they have universal health care.
Hey, my friends, if you have means, consider sending whatever you can to help the local food bank. Many people can really use that help especially now. Let's together make things more tolerable. And let's hope we'll sail through this somehow.
*************************************************************
Let me end this entry with another one of Auden's pieces. I think it's good to end with one more expressive of love, though perhaps still a little dark as befits my state of mind. Hey this one was written a year after I was born -- I think I actually wrote it, but that's subject to dispute. See if you know what poem it is!
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.
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