Archive for the Category ◊ Culture + Society ◊
[April 2008]
With the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics finally over and ending on a note of utter jubilation (a record 14 gold medals, the last one earned this afternoon in a thrilling hockey finale), the country can return to wearing other colours beside red and white. After some major partying tonight, that is. And the hangover tomorrow.
It was a full evening of art at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre Thursday night after work. I didn’t really have a clue what I was attending, since all I got was a text message from Natalia a few days ago which consisted of a jumble of words: “free tickets art exhibit Thursday” and that’s all it took for me to say yes.
The official website: http://www.torontoartexpo.com/
I’m still working through the photos, but here are the 30-second videoclips I shot of the Korean Salmunori dance and drum group Jeng Yi and the whirling dervishes from Turkey at the opening night of the Toronto Art Expo:
I spent most of the evening staked out in the front row so I could shoot the whirling dervishes up close. I only brought my 50mm f/1.8 lens with me, not the zoom, because I didn’t have a press pass and usually art events discourage photography. I didn’t want to attract attention to myself.
I also grabbed some brochures about Turkey from their table near the entrance. What helps me to plan trips is to use the tourist brochures as a guide for distances and timing between cities. There are lots of maps for orientation and the descriptions about each city are useful, too. And, of course, it’s all free!
I arrived back from Atlanta late tonight and I’m in the throes of photo collection management, which takes a considerable amount of time and I could really use the sleep but I do it, anyway… call it a bit of an obsession, although I like to think of it as a preoccupation. Makes me sound less crazy.
Anyway, one of my missions for visiting Atlanta was accomplished over yesterday and today, paying two visits to the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site in an area called Sweet Auburn. I still haven’t seen it all, but I spent most of my exploring time today at the main museum buildings which illustrate the story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s civil rights efforts in 1950s and 60s America. I was very moved by the exhibits and reflected upon how much society has changed since then, but how much progress there is yet to achieve in making everyone equal in every way: for employment, economic opportunities, and most of all respect. Changing the legal system is only one step towards equality, the other step is to change attitudes, and that takes even longer.
National Survey on attitudes and knowledge about Organ Donation, Canada
My friend Fancy is a graduate student in the Public Policy Program at Simon Fraser University and is currently engaged in research for her Capstone thesis. This research includes a confidential online survey of people living in Canada. There are 66 separate questions in the survey. If you live in Canada, are 19 years of age and older, and are interested in participating, more information and the survey can be found at: http://websurvey.sfu.ca/survey/44589071. Please note that your participation is entirely voluntary.
I have a Jewish mother-in-law, this video made me laugh…
(Some humour was in order — I couldn’t bear looking at the broken lens anymore!)
Maria Corazon “Cory” Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino
(January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009)
I’ve uploaded a few dance videos, now I’m going to pass out from a busy Saturday. I can’t remember how many venues we went to, but there are many stamps in our festival passports and a stack of videos from the performances we attended. Here’s a selection:
From Poland, we have a gypsy dance:
I’m posting this on the run to event #2 (Wings & Wheels – aviation show), wishing I could clone myself to cover the three events I’m trying to attend this weekend:
Carassauga
Wings & Wheels
Doors Open
I shot 2.3GBs of photos last night at three pavilions — Philippines, India, and Egypt (the stage lighting requires major editing, so no photos yet) — and here’s a small preview before I head out the door:
(Got lots of video, too, but haven’t had time to download those yet. So much fantastic dancing! Can’t wait to show you!)
When I was driving home later than usual from The Brides’ Project, I had to continue along Lakeshore because the police had blocked off the ramp to the Gardiner Expressway. Now I know why.
Check out the full Torontoist article or the Toronto Star for more photos and information.
I was listening to a CBC Radio program today where people called in to discuss how they were introduced to books as children and which books got them hooked on reading. In the course of the discussion it struck me that parents reading to children seemed very much a Western, Developed World activity. The first time I’d ever seen this was in a Disney movie or on North American television, because it certainly didn’t happen at home.
images & text © 2002-2010 All Rights Reserved by Gail Edwin-Fielding.
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