Art by Vik Muniz: Vancouver Bienalle in Squamish

Approaching this art installation, part of the Vancouver Biennale, one first views a pile of rock, wood and dirt, surrounded by a fence. What is this thing?

The installation is by Vik Muniz and covers an area just off the main street of Squamish of about 20 by 30 metres.

The artist met with members of the Squamish Nation to discuss how to capture the spirit of the community through art. Hundreds of local residents worked with the artist to create a symbol of collaboration and strength in unity.

Only after climbing to a point above the work, can one see the true form of what appears from the ground as rubble. Built during the summer, the installation has suffered erosion by the heavy rains of fall, particularly most recently. Still the powerful image of a wolf is visible to all those able to climb the steps, which is not everyone.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Stop already! ~ Don't they know it's Christmas?

It had to happen. And it has. Yet another rehash of Do They Know it's Christmas. Same old group, plus some new faces to appeal to a whole new generation. Elizabeth Renzetti, one of the best reasons to read the Saturday Globe, puts the lunacy, and the paternalism, into perspective:

 It was 30 years ago that Bob Geldof woke up, combed his hair with a badger and got on the rotary dial phone to one of his mates in the music business. “Err, Midge, did you see that report about Ethiopia on the BBC last night? It was [expletive deleted] awful. We've got to do something." 

Midge hadn't seen it, and neither had Simon or Sting or Boy George or the Bananaramas, but they all still agreed to break the first article of the Pop Star Conventions (the one about waking before noon) and they assembled at a recording studio in London to record a song that would change the history of celebrity do-gooding.

Sir Bob, as he now is styled, though then he was just a scruffy one-hit wonder quite down on his luck, wrote the song with Midge Ure in a couple of days. Needs must, given the urgency of the matter, but it was too bad they didn’t have a bit longer to write the thing. Because frankly, it’s been tormenting the world for 30 years, and is about to do so again.

"It's Christmas time, and there's no need to be afraid …" There, I've ruined the day for you. I’m sorry. You'll need a stick of dynamite to blast that ear worm free.

Or perhaps you can replace it with the new version of the Do They Know it's Christmas charity single, which will be recorded this weekend in London, with proceeds going to help fight Ebola in West Africa. In place of the original bandits whose hairspray habits destroyed the ozone layer (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club) is a new group of glistening, unimpeachable pop stars including Ed Sheeran, One Direction and Coldplay.

Sir Bob has promised to "tweak" the egregious lyrics of the earlier single, and one can only imagine the manoeuvring around this. Perhaps Chris Martin is at this moment suggesting, "Could we change it to Do they Know it's Eid? or maybeDo They Know it's Hanukkah?" And Sir Bob bellowing, "What rhymes with Hanukkah, then? Manuka? It's not a bloody song about honey."

He is a bit bellowy, Sir Bob, and you could say he’s earned the right: The combined earnings of the Band Aid songs and Live Aid concerts generated hundreds of millions of dollars for famine relief, and the trust still gives about $3-million (Canadian) each year to various causes. But at the press conference this week where he revealed he had answered the UN’s new summons for help (I imagine he has a batphone installed for this very purpose, although it’s shaped like Freddie Mercury), Sir Bob looked beaten down.
He said he didn't want to do another charity single; it was difficult and embarrassing to phone up young stars he didn't know. Perhaps he was worried that one of those juniors was going to call him “Bob Gandalf,” as Joss Stone did during the recording of Band Aid 20, a charity single in aid of Darfur.

Or perhaps he was just anticipating the controversy that would arise when the wealthy, leather-trousered troubadours of Britain set forth once again to rescue Africa. And sure enough, the controversy has come, some of it pointed and wise: As journalist Bim Adewunmi wrote this week in The Guardian, "There exists a paternalistic way of thinking about Africa, likely exacerbated by the original (and the second, and the third) Band Aid singles, in which it must be 'saved,' and usually from itself. We say 'Africa' in a way that we would never say 'Europe'or 'Asia'."

It's hard to argue with that. It’s also hard not to be skeptical of the new slogan, "Buy the single, stop the virus." If it were so simple, someone might have tried it before. ("Kurt Weill: Buy the sheet music, stop the fascism!") It’s hard to ignore the charge that so far, the lineup for Band Aid 30 is not exactly flush with African musicians, but instead leans toward pop stars manufactured in celebrity’s kitchen. As well, African musicians have already recorded their own, quite splendid Ebola relief song, with the proceeds going to Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders).

That charity single is called Africa Stop Ebola, and while Cole Porter may not have a hand in writing the lyrics, they do at least provide useful advice: “Ebola is not good, you should see a doctor … This is a very serious disease, once you have symptoms, please seek doctors.” This is perhaps the most striking difference between it and the much more famous charity single: The African song understands what it needs to do. It has a catchy melody, so that people will listen to it and hum and perhaps find the practical lyrics lodged in their heads. There is no hand-wringing, no talk of raising a toast to famine victims or feeding the world, and mercifully not even a whisper of Christmas.

I am resigned to having Do They Know it’s Christmas stuck in my head for a month, once the song is unveiled on the satanic altar of The X Factor this weekend. I hope it makes millions of dollars for Ebola relief. All I ask is that Sir Bob – and maybe you too, Midge – find it in your hearts to write a new song before the next crisis.

by Elizabeth Renzetti
Published in The Globe and Mail, November 15, 2014

The Sunflower Bakery Cafe and Zephyr Cafe in Squamish

We stopped at several coffee shops while visiting Squamish. Two were beside each other on the main drag.

The Sunflower is more a bakery, featuring gluten free breads made without additives or yeast. In place of yeast the Sunflower uses something called the mother sponge, which sounds a bit like a Seinfeld episode, conjuring all kinds of images. The cakes and pies did look fabulous. Everything is made on the premises and it all looks, and tastes, wonderful.

We were tempted to have some carrot juice, though wondered about the freshly squeezed part. Isn't that rather difficult?

Next door was the Zephyr Cafe which was more typical of coffee shops; cluttered in a good way with a determined sense of the town and its folk, and the moral responsibility of a socially conscious business.

Along one wall there are bios of all the candidates running in the municipal election, along with answers to common questions posed to each. That social responsibility thing in practice.

Tip jars answered the question of the day, with all too often beating out probably not enough.

The coffees were strong. Mine, a rather thick and chocolaty espresso, and Sherry's a pumpkin spice latte, with a strange swirl on top, and filled to the brim. Not necessarily the best coffee I've tasted, but on a cold and windy day... this is great and the political vibe is okay too. Coffee shops were traditionally places where discussions took place, where people debated endlessly, and with civility. It probably won't be allowed to happen at the big chain coffee operations, but maybe... here....

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

The eagles are coming to Brankendale

In Brankendale, a neighbourhood of Squamish, along the Squamish River, The eagles come every year. In fact, it is one of the most significant areas of wintering bald eagles in North America. Last year almost 4000 eagles wintered here, feasting on runs of chum salmon in the Squamish, Cheakamus and Mamquam rivers, as do the hopeful human fishers on this day too.

The eagles start to arrive in mid-November, though their numbers peak from mid-December to mid-January.















It is beautiful here. People walk along the dyke, photographers are common, and everyone watches, and waits, for the eagles to appear. And they do.



A new show everyday.


Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.

Garibaldi ~ a hike in the cold

It was windy in Squamish and about six degrees, though it felt much colder. We drove through Garibaldi Heights and through the campus of Quest University and up along what seemed to be an old logging road. The remaining colours of autumn were brilliant, the air increasingly cold and frosty.











Finally, having manoeuvred around most of the deep pot hole on the track, we parked and began our hike, me without gloves or toque of course. At leaving the car, the air temperature was minus two. The sky was clear and the sun was warm, when its light found the ground through the towering trees. Our path began as rock and turned to a rougher mix of rock and frozen mud.












Oddly, it seemed to me, there were few sounds of birds as we climbed the path. The sound of falling water was a constant and fellow hikers stopped to fill water bottles with icy, clean, mountain refreshment.





The first snow of the season appeared in places along our route.

The vistas, when finally we could see through a clearing in the trees, were incredible indeed.

It was time for coffee, and the hike back began.

Photos by Jim Murray. Copyright 2014.