Orchard Pinkish on Playing During Plague: an interview

All concert photos by Gordon E. McCaw, of Betty Bathory's Daddy Issues band, featuring Orchard Pinkish. Orchard Pinkish in black on the left; I am the bald guy on the right. 

Something weird and interesting took place two weeks ago at the Betty Bathory birthday bash: I was able, consciously, to set COVID out of my mind for a few hours and have a great night at a rock show. I enjoyed myself immeasurably, but there were - before I just shrugged and went with it - definitely a few moments of nervousness early on, as I entered a reasonably large group of people, none masked, and proceeded to slosh back beer and socialize, almost like I was secure that the COVID vaccines were going to protect me. Everyone else seemed on the same page too; other than LanaLou's staff members, about the only person I saw with a mask was the estimable Orchard Pinkish, onstage with Betty, wearing - at least when he first came out - black robes and a Plague Doctor mask of considerable menace.

Since he stood out, was perhaps of a like mind about the relative safety of the evening, and was amenable to my bugging him, I thought I'd ask Orchard how he felt about the night, and how well he's been weathering COVID. The following is the text of my email interview, only slightly tinkered with for clarity. 

How has COVID impacted you personally? Have you been keeping safe? What have you been working on during the shutdown?


Certainly the initial lockdown shut down any musical endeavors that I was involved in, had an impact on my job in that it caused a real slowdown and ratcheted up my already high level of stress about the state of the world today. I've been following provincial health guidelines, wearing a mask 8 hours a day at work and anywhere that I am in public for the duration.

I spent about 2 months with a light workload, no rehearsals and no social interaction. I was bringing my acoustic guitar to work just to keep sane and keep my hands moving. As someone who likes to play a lot and whose social life revolves around music, this started to take a toll on my mental health. Fortunately my work neighbor (Don Binns) noticed the guitar one day and suggested that we do a little socially distanced playing in the parking lot out back of our workplaces. The following Friday, he pulled out his upright bass and I my guitar and we stood in the parking lot and played our asses off for about 6 hours. The following week we were joined by his colleague Jamie Wilson on drums and 'The Lot Lizards' were born. We even recruited R.D. Cane to do this little video for us.  

Screen grab from RD's video

Another fortunate thing that happened was a call I got from Scott MacLeod about a month before the lockdown. Scott asked if I would be interested in joining his band 'The Imperial'. I had been a fan of Scott for some time and knew and loved his bandmates Cam Alexander, Michael Nathanson and Richard Katynski. My first thought on this was 'what the hell would I do in this band... ' Rich was obviously on bass. Scott is just a killer guitar player who needs no second in my opinion. Mandolin didn't seem like a fit for what they were doing. I was a bit perplexed. When I asked Scott his response was a bit shocking : Synthesizer. I pointed out that I have no keys skills and no gear. He said something like 'great, when can you start?' Naturally this gave me a real mountain to climb and I have done my best to catch up to these absolute giants. I have gone from non-keys player to shitty keys player in a mere 18 months, and the guys have been super supportive and seem to like what I am doing.

How do you feel about the government response to COVID? What has impressed you?

I think the government response has been adequate. I was not impressed by any aspect of it, but they did act. They did provide supports; they did not politicize it. It was just ok.

3. Have you entertained any skepticism or concern about:
a) the safety or efficacy of the vaccines

No, the vaccines went through the standard trials etc, so they are certainly as safe as any other drug that we approve. It was impressive that they happened so quickly. It make you wonder how quickly we could deal with other health issues if we were willing to put these levels of resources towards them.

b) the level of fear inculcated in the media

I don't think this sort of fear mongering was evidenced in Canadian media. I think some propaganda networks in the US really fucked their viewers by turning this into a political issue.

c) the need for lockdowns

This was a new thing, that was quite obviously a potential epidemic. That our governments were willing to shut down was a glimmer of hope for me. They were willing to at least pay lip service to saving the lives of their constituents over keeping the economy running in a business as usual manner.

d) any "hidden agendas"

I think this is just silly. If there is some sort of deep state or shadow government it is synonymous with wealth: Corporate interests or the interests of the uber rich. The last thing these interests would want is to stop the up syphon of capitol. If you look at their PR branches in the US, they have been literally fighting like hell to stop the shutdowns. Its sad that people are willing to believe in bullshit conspiracies when the real conspirators operate in the light of day.

e) the influence of anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, etc

Fear is the enemy of logic. When I think about masking I look at it this way... If masks dont help, I will have worn a piece of fabric on my face for no reason. If they do help I may end up responsible for someone dying. How can this even be a question. Who is so weak that they can't tolerate a fucking mask. I do it all day long. I literally forget I have it on sometimes. Sometimes my ears hurt a little. Boo fucking hoo. Talk about snowflakes.

f) whether we will need to go into lockdown again at this rate (care to speculate on when?).

I think we are in pretty good shape to be honest [case counts were around 300/day when Orchard was writing this, note - things change! But he may still feel the same way]. The MRNA vaxes are 95-97% effective at keeping you from getting the delta variant (and alpha), and 99.99% effective at keeping you out of the hospital if you do have a breakthrough infection. If we can get to the mid 90's percentile for fully vaccinated we should be ok, and we are on track. The caveat here is variants. Delta+, Lambda, we just don't know. This is where the politicization of the response in other countries is hurting us. It creates low vax rates in places and thus breeding grounds for mutation. Its incredibly frustrating. I was lucky in that I qualified for a shot early. I happily waited in line for 5 hours in the spring for my first shot, and have been double vaxxed since June 21. I will absolutely get a booster in 6 months if it is available and recommended.   

 

Thanks - let's get to the show: when and where did you acquire that Plague Doctor costume? Was it specifically for the show?

Yes and no. About 10 years ago I found this mask shop in Vic. I grabbed a fantastic masquerade mask and a equally wicked Plague Doctor mask. I used them a couple times with the Strugglers I think. Going into this show I had a lot of trepidation and concern about whether any of the new guidelines were a good idea. I thought it was absolutely necessary that I wear the Plague Doctor get-up as a statement of my concern. Despite my guarded optimism and favorable data, I still have a level of skepticism and worry about all of this. We are in uncharted waters and no one really knows for sure.

Back to the mask. As you know, I recently moved. Most of my show costuming is in storage and I am in that early move state of chaos. I spent a couple hours searching for this mask to no avail. The day of the show I actually had to source a new one that was perhaps not as great as the one I can't find, but it said what I wanted to say.   

Would you agree that the mood was one of just completely blocking out all thought or worry about the pandemic, throwing caution to the wind? Were you aware that that would be the case before you took the stage, or was it a surprise...? Did you feel safe? did you feel worried? Are you changing your behaviour now (avoiding immunocompromised friends or such...?).

It was a non-prophylactic event for sure. I kind of expected this. A real show, booze, that awesome lineup, friends.. It all just adds up to people really letting loose. I think we all needed that for our souls, but the though of it being a dangerous thing was in the front of my mind the whole time. Betty's birthday and Daddy Issues shows should always be considered dangerous events, but hopefully not life-threatening.   

While it was in line with guidelines (which seem to be 'go for it'), it was uncomfortable for me. I have not been in a crowd in almost two years. That felt weird and anxiety inducing, but I'm not super wild about crowds to begin with. There were no masks which also felt weird after the past two years. I kept reminding myself that there were 23 cases the day before in the VCH region (2.3/100000 cases/pop) and that masks are encouraged indoors at 8.8/100000+. I kept telling myself that most of us are double vaxxed and that I trust this group to be vaxxed if interacting (for the most part?) I cleared my schedule and got tested 5 days afterwards. (clear).

Would you do it again? (I mean, no question - it was an immensely fun night and I kinda felt like I NEEDED it, but, like, I didn't go to Crummy. I considered it but like I say, I didn't want to push my luck...

I have bookings in September and October but I'm just playing it by ear. Things are really uncertain and this one was a litmus test for me. I'm not sure how I feel about it all really, so I am going to see how things are playing out and try to err on the side of caution going forward.

Cheers,

OP

Thanks to Orchard Pinkish and Gord McCaw. Now: do I go see Crummy and Stab'Em in the Abdomen at LanaLou's on the 21st? Hmmm... let's see how my test results go...

The Asian Persuasion All-Stars talk about their "Racist Friend": an interview with Tim Chan, Eric Lowe, and Tony Lee

One of the most interesting courses I took as part of my undergrad degree was a seminar in Asian-Canadian literature at SFU - especially since activist/ poet Roy Miki, who taught the course, was able to get almost everyone who wrote the stories and books we were reading to come into class. Fred Wah read from and spoke about Diamond Grill, his memoir about his childhood spent in the kitchen of his father's Chinese restaurant - and explained how, because his mother was Scandinavian, he had, for much of his life, the guilty luxury of passing for white, at least until people noticed his last name. Jim Wong-Chu, poet and editor of a terrific anthology of Chinese Canadian short stories called Many Mouthed Birds, talked about protests and riots in Chinatown and the history of anti-racist activism in Vancouver. And Hiromi Goto, author of A Chorus of Mushrooms, talked about her frustrations when strangers would assume, because of her facial features, that she could explain to them how to cook all things Japanese (at a grocery store, for instance: "Are these skinny eggplants different from the fat ones?' She seethed a little at recounting the experience). 

That kind of thinking had come up before in class, when talking about the race-based presumptions that Asian Canadians have to vault over regularly - from being good at math to being able to read Chinese characters to having a fondness for congee (or what-have-you). It was strikingly underscored when a fellow student asked Professor Miki to explain some of the Japanese phrases riddled throughout A Chorus of Mushrooms. She was clearly shocked and confused that he couldn't translate them. She didn't actually say, "But... but... you're Japanese!" But Professor Miki is from Canada, his first language is English, and his connection to Japan was, at that point, anyhow, fairly remote. I still remember his raised eyebrows as his student proved his point for him.    

Top Row L-R: Tamla Mah. Ashton Sweet. Ron Kenji. Mike Chang. Second Row: Eric Lowe. Brooke Fujiyama, Tim Chan. Norine Braun.Third Row: Felix Fung. Greg Hathaway. Gabe Ng. Kevin Tang. Bottom Row: Brian Minato, Tony Lee, Norah Holtby.

That was one of my first questions, then, in interviewing the Asian Persuasion All-Stars, a mostly all-Asian Canadian supergroup consisting of Tony Lee (drummer and percussionist for Kele Fleming, EddyD and the Sexbombs, the New Black, & Hard Rock Miners); Eric Lowe (drummer for the Vanrays and former 64 Funnycars member); Tim Chan (guitars and vocals for China Syndrome and Pill Squad, also formerly - or should I say "occasionally?" - in 64 Funnycars), Mike Chang (China Syndrome); Tamla Mah (Abel Collective); Gabe Ng (Abel Collective); Brian Minato (SLIP~ons, the Deep Cove, and formerly Sarah McLachlan); Ron Yamauchi (Kele Fleming); Brooke Fujiyama (the Shit Talkers, Swinging Hammers; Greg Hathaway (Roots Roundup, Hathaway Brothers); Norine Braun (Norine Braun and Alice Fraser); Ashton Sweet (Balkan Shmalkan, Babyface Brass, and many other bands); Kevin Tang (Camaro 67, Big Easy Funk Ensemble) and producer Felix Fung (Sunday Morning, Les Chaussettes, producer of many others!).

Over the course of an email exchange with Tony, Tim, and Eric, I asked them what kind of assumptions they have to play past, as Chinese Canadians? Do people ask where they're from? Do they encounter other bits of subtle, othering racism in daily life? 

Tim: I've rarely been asked if I was from somewhere else simply based on being Asian. For sure, I have had people assume that because I'm Chinese, I know everything related to China or Chinese things or how to say certain words in Cantonese or Mandarin. I can speak rudimentary Cantonese (mostly to my mom) and know a little bit of Mandarin but that's as far as it goes. It is annoying when certain people continue to think I know these things and I keep telling them I don't know but they keep asking me anyways!

Eric: I've personally never been asked where I'm from as far as I can remember. Very, very rarely something racist might be directed my way and then I'm reminded of my heritage, but it doesn't happen too often. This doesn't make me special, it just makes me lucky. This could all change in an instant. Growing up though racist slurs and nicknames seemed to be the norm in elementary and high school (yes, elementary school) starting as early as Grade 1. It's easy to dismiss it as sign of the times but looking back it's pretty sad that six-year olds were calling me "Chink".

Tony: I've also been fortunate not to have been directly confronted for years and years. Our joke in high school was, "Those people should go back to where they came from...East Van!"

Mike Chang, left, and Tim Chan, right

Chan explains that the project was designed "to spotlight our Asian musician friends, adding that "we do have some non-Asians in the collective too who are very supportive." Their first release is a cover of the Special AKA's "Racist Friend." The Asian-Persuasion All-Stars' video for their cover of it will debut on August 20th, here, but you can hear the audio-only version on their bandcamp page. 

It is unusual, Chan continued, for the band members to shine a light on their identities thus. (He's explained in a past Straight interview what the name of his band China Syndrome was as much a reference to late 70's movies as to he and Mike being Chinese). But with anti-Asian racism on the rise, the musicians saw an opportunity to lend support to Elimin8hate.org - "a Vancouver organization working to interrupt, dismantle and eliminate anti-Asian racism at all levels through an approach that affects change via education, media representation, policy changes and community organizing. All proceeds from downloads and streams of "Racist Friend" will go toward supporting Elimin8hate, the advocacy arm of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival."

So who in the Asian Persuasion All-Stars has worked with whom, before, exactly? How was the recording done? Was it challenging, with so many bandmembers and so much worry about COVID?

Tim: For sure Eric and I have a long history indeed, which you've already documented elsewhere. I've played with Tony a number of times as well, as part of Brent Kane's birthday band, guesting with EddyD and the Sexbombs at Bowie Ball 2019, and he played with China Syndrome at the last live Bowie Ball in 2020. Of course, Mike is in China Syndrome with me. Otherwise, this is my first collaboration with all the other musicians. All the recording was done at home by each of us and we sent the files to Felix, who put it all together and mixed it. So we actually haven't been together in one room as yet - I haven't even met some of the group members! We have a live gig booked at LanaLou's on September 19 so we will finally be meeting in person soon.

Eric: A few years back Tony (also a drummer) and I decided to form Secret Asian Man. Based on the slightly humorous (possibly misguided) idea that two Chinese drummers join forces and play duets. That would be the first time I collaborated with Tony. Secret Asian Man plays mostly empty venues to very polite applause. Sometimes Tim joins us as the ringer who can actually play guitar.

Tony: I am a fan of Eric and Tim in the VanRays, China Syndrome, Polly, and Swank. I am often playing on a bill with one or both of them. EddyD and the Sex Bombs adopted Tim for the Bowie Ball one year, and China Syndrome had me aboard the year after. I thought of this supergroup recording after seeing the umpteenth anti-Asian incident on the local news. I knew we had enough talent amongst our friends. Eddie Lam was too busy, and I didn't hear back from Johnny Wildkat of The Furniture.

Tim: Tony Lee is the one who initiated this project -- he messaged Eric and me about doing a benefit recording to combat the rising anti-Asian racism we are seeing in Metro Vancouver. Tony chose the song as well, the Special AKA's "Racist Friend," originally recorded in 1984. We very briefly bandied about the idea of playing They Might Be Giants' "Your Racist Friend" but stuck with the Special AKA song because we could feature a variety of vocalists and also pay tribute to Leslie Kong, a Chinese-Jamaican and a huge influence on the creation of reggae. He produced Desmond Dekker's "Israelites," and early Bob Marley and the Wailers and Toots and the Maytals records. Hence the subtitle for the song, "Felix Fung King Kong mix," with the amazing Felix Fung mixing it and the reference to Leslie Kong.

How has racism impacted their families, historically?

Tim: Racism has absolutely impacted my family historically on my father's side. My grandfather paid the $500 head tax to immigrate into Canada from China to work in Canada in the early 1920s; his economic prospects were better here than in impoverished South China. He was already married but was not allowed by the Canadian government to have his wife (my grandmother) with him in this country because he was Chinese -- this was when the Chinese Exclusion Act was in effect. So he had to come here alone and was only allowed to visit his wife in China every seven years. Of course, guess what? My grandmother had a child every seven years - all my dad's siblings were seven years apart. The act was finally repealed in 1947, but my grandfather was not able to bring my grandmother and my dad's younger brother to Canada until 1950. Unfortunately, my dad was left behind in Hong Kong because he was over the age of 18 and immigration to Canada for Chinese people was restricted only to wives and children under that age; only Chinese people had this restriction imposed on them and this was not lifted until 1967! My dad was finally able to join the rest of his family in Canada, so he had almost as long a wait as my grandfather did. Anyways, the Canadian immigration laws at that time were rooted in racism and my family's story is unfortunately very common to many other Chinese families of the same generation.

Eric: My great grandfathers on both sides came over to work building the railway and it's well documented how poorly and unfairly they were treated compared to white workers. Both were also subjected to the head tax but fortunate enough to be allowed to stay in Canada. My father was able to join his grandfather in Canada but had to come into the country as the child of another family because at the time grandparents were not allowed to sponsor their grandchildren. He settled in and eventually corrected his status which made it possible for him to sponsor my mother to come to the country.

Tony: I am not as well versed in my family history as I would like. My dad got a business degree from UBC in the early 1960's. His classmates were offered much better job offers than him. He started out managing the lighting department at Eaton's at Brentwood Mall, which was a first for an Asian Canadian man.

Tony Lee

Had the band seen incidents of COVID-related anti-Asian racism? (I told them that I saw one homeless-looking guy yelling at a group of Asian girls once, but that was about it -  the girls kept their cool, and I checked in afterwards, and it seemed like they were okay).

Tim: I have not experienced racism during the pandemic nor have I witnessed any incidents. It appears, as a male of decent stature, I'm not in the target group for the attacks - the perpetrators have been primarily targeting more vulnerable people such as seniors and young women, which is very unfortunate and disgusting, really.

Neither Eric nor Tony have experienced anything directly; Tony adds, "As loud-ish Asians we attempt to speak on behalf of more reticent people." 

So what should I do, I asked Tim, Eric, and Tony, about my 90-something year old uncle, who has taken to calling COVID the "Chinese virus?" (He started doing this after seeing videos put out by the Epoch Times - a Falun Gong-associated newspaper with a pro-Trump, anti-Communist bias - which blamed the Chinese Communist Party for COVID's spread; Epoch Times were calling it the CCP virus, and he "shortened" the phrase, probably with a little bit of old-fashioned "yellow peril" racism in mind, akin to the attitude parodied in the old couplet by Phil Ochs, "they speak Chinese/ and they spread disease"). What would you say to him?

Tim: I would ask him why he is specifically calling it the "Chinese Virus." How did the article from Epoch Times or any other information he has come across convince him to call it that? I would try to have a civil discussion with him about it and try to get to the root of why he is saying this and perhaps reflect on his biases and perceptions he has had over the years. As he is 90+ years old, it may be difficult to convince him otherwise, but it would be a very interesting and enlightening conversation to have.

Tony: I doubt that any Asian Persuasion would be effective on your elderly uncle.

Eric Lowe, Tony Lee

Does the band have any special relationship to the Specials, the Special AKA, or ska? Are there other songs out there germane to, or specifically about, anti-Asian racism, that they considered covering?

Tim: As you know I'm more of a power pop kinda guy, but I've always enjoyed the Specials/Special AKA and I own their albums... I'm not aware of any specific songs about anti-Asian racism [but see his mention of They Might Be Giants, above]. Again we are performing live on September 19 and have put together a set list for the gig, all covers, and some are other anti-racism songs. We encourage people to come to the show to hear what we end up playing!

Tony: I am a fan of the late seventies Two Tone movement (Specials, Madness, Selecter, Beat). I know less about early ska and rocksteady, but it's pretty great. Third wave ska is less interesting to me, except Fishbone. We are busting some other covers for a gig in September, some by Asian artists and some about general togetherness.

Then there's the question I'm dying to ask: what the heck does the band make of the Payola$ early single, "China Boys?" Is it some sort of glib racist anthem, or is it taking the piss, or what...? I've always enjoyed the tune, but never felt comfortable with the lyrics - it's undeniably catchy, maybe one of the Payola$' greatest moments musically, but, I mean, Skrewdriver are pretty catchy, too, musically. Have any of you had a chance to take it up with Paul Hyde or Bob Rock? What would you say to them?

Tim: To be honest, I've always enjoyed "China Boys" as a song, though I've always been bothered by the phrase "ten billion people." That is SO far off the mark of not only the population of China (1.4 billion, and much less when the song was written) but also of the entire world (7.7 billion people)! This rather outrageous number, not to mention the ridiculous lyrics of the song (e.g. "I hear them laughing/ I know where you are/ I don't want your TV/ I want your car") leads me to conclude that they are singing in the character of someone who is paranoid about a "Chinese invasion." In context, the song was written in the late 70s around the time of the Vietnamese-Chinese "boat people" who were forced out of Vietnam when it went under a Communist regime post-Vietnam war. So I am erring on the side of satire for this song, though their video and faux-"oriental" riff somewhat negates this! And how about "Turning Japanese" by the Vapors?!

Eric: I don't mind "China Boys" all that much. Can't say I was big Payola$ fan so never paid much attention to it really. Now Mitsou's "Les Chinois"...

Tony: I never thought 'China Boys" was racist. I'm a Payola$ fan. We decided that "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas is too problematic to play live, even though I love that probably racist song.

 Ron Yamauchi (AKA Ron Kenji) and Kimiko Karpoff

What comes next? Is this a one-off project, or will they do an album, or..?

Tony: APAS was definitely created as a one off. If no one had asked us to play live, we probably wouldn't. I've never met some of our band members in person, but I look forward to it. I would love to write a classic anti-racist anthem, but I suspect I might not.

Tim: As I mentioned, we'll be playing live on September 19 at LanaLou's. The show will be a benefit for Elimin8hate and will also feature four other APAS-related bands: China Syndrome, Swimming Hammers (with Brooke Fujiyama), Norine Braun and Alice Fraser, and the Hathaway Brothers (with Greg and David Hathaway). Not sure about other live gigs and other recordings after this, I believe there's a chance we will play as part of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival in November as well, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

As for the great anti-racist Asian-Canadian rock anthem, I'm hoping it will be written at some point, maybe by one of us or, even better, by a younger Asian musician! I wrote a song a number of years ago when I was in 64 Funnycars called "Something Real" that was ostensibly about being in a mixed-race relationship and how difficult it was to be open about it, and how we could continue the relationship in secret but it would not change societal attitudes: "you'd think they'd learn from experience that it's not such a big thing anymore, can't they see that we're in love, and it makes no difference how I am, what I am, who I am..." I deliberately wrote the lyrics to be more universal as it could apply to other relationships (e.g. LGBTQ2+) but my original perspective is from the point-of-view of being in a mixed-race relationship. Of course, I am married to Sarah, a non-Asian, and Tony and Eric are also married to non-Asians, and I know several members of APAS are of mixed heritage.

Brooke Fujiyama

What else have the bandmembers been doing during the pandemic?

Tim: China Syndrome has been relatively quiet over the pandemic period. We start practicing again in September and will be looking to play live in the Fall. Mike and I have done some iso-collaborations of our songs during the pandemic ("Nowhere to Go," "Footsteps on the Roof," "Empty") and also covered some Red Hot Chili Peppers. Mike and I also did a couple of iso-collaborations with Eric and Gord Rempel of the Vanrays (combined we are the ChinaRays) on covers of Squeeze and Joe Jackson songs. Pill Squad is rehearsing again, and we will be playing live in the fall as well -- we released an EP online earlier this year, Kissan Silma, and will have a CD release party for it on Oct 1st at LanaLou's.

Eric: The Vanrays have just mastered 16 tracks, enough for an LP, EP and single. We hope to release the LP very soon with the other recordings following that. We've also recorded a video for one of the LP tracks called "Hard Times," but that will stay under wraps until the release. Otherwise we have a couple shows at Lanalou's scheduled for Nov, details to come.[Check their bandcamp page for updates?].

Tony: EddyD & the Sex Bombs recently released a second album, Yikes!, and will play in October. Sparky Spurr and the Wretched Sinners play in mid August and might record soon. The New Black has an album in the can, but won't always return my emails. Kele Fleming is writing songs for a new album. The Hard Rock Miners' Singalong has repurposed itself as The South Trout Orchestra for outdoor gigs.

Kele Fleming and Tony Lee

Thanks to Tim, Eric, and Tony for taking time with my questions and their answers, and for putting together such a cool project! Get tickets for the Elimin8hate fundraiser/ Asian Persuasion All-Stars gig here. For updates, check out their Facebook page. To learn more about Elimin8hate, visit their website. 

Monday Music in the Park - New West...

 David M. drew my attention to this, and I'll be there to see him play, but Stephen Hamm? Jimmy Roy? Ian Tiles (resurrecting Buddy Selfish with Mike Van Eyes???). I'm goin'. 

Vancouver Arthouse return! With specific focus on He Ran All the Way and Mandibles

It wouldn't be a real Vancouver summer for movie-lovers without the Cinematheque's Film Noir series, and lo, it has returned, with a usual mixture of tried and true favourites, including a couple of films that tend to appear on my list of favourite noirs: Gun Crazy, Criss Cross, and In a Lonely Place (yes, basis for that Smithereens song, and one of the saddest noirs ever), a couple of historically important films that I've seen but don't have much to say about (like Kiss Me Deadly, which will forever to me be a footnote in my fandom for Repo Man) and a nice sampling of "deep cuts" that I've never seen, like City That Never Sleeps and The Glass Key, based on a terrific Dashiell Hammett novel (one of the few vintage crime novels I've read twice, and one of the sources for the plot in Miller's Crossing, which mix-and-matches a few Hammett texts in a way that I'm sure they would consider homage, but has always seemed - tho' I like the film a lot - to be borderline plagiarism).

The one that I have never seen that really stands out for me is He Ran All the Way, for a few reasons that have nothing to do with the story itself (which does sound compelling): because, first off, I'm kind of fascinated by young Shelley Winters (who I grew up watching play cranky "broads" in movies like The Poseidon Adventure, The Tenant, Bloody Mama, or Kubrick's Lolita - which seems the turning point between her sex-bomb years and her later mode. Unaware of her early career, I used to find her kind of gross, to be honest, since these characters were often kind of vulgar and none-too-bright. then realized at some point that in fact, that grossness was something she was performing, and suddenly found myself feeling deep respect for her. She went from this, back when she was hanging around with Marilyn Monroe:

To this, in what has become my favourite of her "broad" roles, The Poseidon Adventure:

...And kept working well past her "best-by" date in a system that didn't have much use for real actresses, except as eye candy. Truth is, I still find something kind of nails-on-a-chalkboardish about her later roles (she's just so frumpy and unpleasant, in films like Polanski's The Tenant, for example) but I realize now that she's TRYING to get under your skin there...

Even more of a reason I'm keen on He Ran All the Way: I haven't seen many John Garfield movies, and never this one, though that morphs into another issue that, in fact, cineastes out there can help me with; I am convinced that I have heard reference to He Ran All the Way in some other film, or some other film-related place, like an interview with a director I respect... but I have no idea where. Did a character in a Martin Scorsese film talk about it? That seems like it could be the case; maybe the Harvey Keitel character in Who's That Knocking At My Door, since he's a film buff? That would be pleasing, because the late Bertrand Tavernier, when I interviewed him about the blu-ray release of Death Watch, likened Keitel to Garfield:

I find him very moving, very interesting--totally immature. I love that quality in Harvey. And from the beginning, the moment when he entered the restaurant, when I met him, I said, “this is Roddy!” Especially when he was smiling. And I had seen many of his films, post-Taxi Driver, and in many films he was always tense, never smiling. Sometimes very effectively, like in Fingers, which was a very underrated film. But he was never loosening up, something he could do; he also could express the immaturity of the character, the guilt. I told him, “you remind me of John Garfield.” He had a kind of Garfieldian quality.

...All of which is enough to make me interested to see Garfield's final performance, as is the blacklisting of various people involved in this film (co-written by Dalton Trumbo, who was the subject of a pretty good movie himself a few years ago) but like I say, I've had a "pin" in my memory about this particular film for a long time, long enough to have forgotten where it came from. I should go see it, for sure, but it probably won't help me recall WHY I think I should go see it. Help me scratch my niggling itch!

There's also a return to open for the Vancity Theatre - now and in the future to be called the VIFF Centre, also now boasting a new "studio theatre" on the side. They have a few films that I am very excited to see. I will be seeing Gunda alone, sadly. I described it to Erika, who doesn't resonate with black and white so much, and who is not actually a cinema lover, per se - she likes movies, but, like, that amazing opening sequence of Bela Tarr's The Turin Horse did nothing for her but give her a point of reference to tell me what not to play her in the future ("Is it like the movie about the guy walking the horse up the hill?" ...we didn't even finish it, only got as far as the potato-eating scene, which is to my mind the greatest potato scene in film history, but... you know, I can't entirely blame her; either your scopophilia kicks in and you are compelled beyond reason by such images, or it doesn't and you aren't).

To me, though, Gunda sounds amazing: a gorgeously-photographed black and white Norwegian documentary about the life of a pig.

I haven't seen Quentin Dupieux's Mandibles, but I have seen his telekinetic killer tire movie, Rubber, and that film, if you've missed it, is both insane and very fun to watch. On the strength of that film alone - which I am sure Erika would also enjoy, note - I'd be game to see another Dupieux. Then I read the description from the VIFF website:

The gig couldn’t be more straightforward: Manu is to hotwire a car, pick up a briefcase, deliver it straight away, absolutely no peeking, no diversions, discretion guaranteed. Inviting his best bud Jean-Gab to come along for the ride is not in the remit. But then, who could have foreseen what would turn up in the trunk of the yellow wrecker he chooses at random…? A housefly the size of a dog. Naturally, the two friends are bemused. There must be real money here, if they can only figure it out. Jean-Gab has an idea: tape up its wings, earn its trust, and train it to pull a bank robbery…

Um, what? A giant fly robbing a bank? Um... okay. Not quite sure how Dupieux comes up with his ideas. It feels like they could have begun as one sentence or phrase (which also applies to "telekinetic killer tire"). You get the sense with some of the more outlandish films out there, like Kevin Smith's idiotic but unforgettable Tusk, the film's premise emerges from a contest between very stoned friends to see who can come up with the most batshit ideas for movies; what's remarkable is not that drug-fond filmmakers might have such conversations, but that they actually follow through on the ideas that arise in them when they're sober. In any event - whatever Dupieux's inspirations or intent - Mandibles sounds like a must-see to me. (The title surely is a riff on Jaws, eh?). 

There's lots else to see at the Vancity, coming up - also Annette, a rock opera made with the deep involvement of the Sparks brothers. Sparks - coming soon to Vancouver, and subject of a well-regarded recent documentary - is a cult band I respect but haven't done justice; I do love their song and video for "I Predict." Have not yet heard their soundtrack to Annette (listening to this one song as I type). Bears looking into!

 I'm also very keen to catch La Piscine, an erotic French thriller starring Romy Schneider, whom I loved so much it the aforementioned Death Watch. Udo Kier fans will want, meanwhile, to check out Swan Song. I've missed both these cinemas (and the cinema itself) a great deal, and am excited by the prospect of seeing all of these films in a cinema. The opportunity may not last long, here, so... 

A return to punk rock gigs with Betty Bathory and company

So I've already put this joke on Facebook, but after LanaLou's last night, I have the perfect name for a punk band: Superspreader. It's edgy, vaguely obscene, and probably prophetic, because if I'm ever gonna catch COVID, last night is the night that's gonna do it. 

Allow me to explain. 

Having worn my mask on the bus, the Skytrain, and shopping for records (cheap Guadalcanal Diary stuff at Audiopile - I realized recently that I didn't have Jamboree, and I've never owned Flip Flop, and took care of both for around $5 each), I found myself somewhat daunted, as I walked up Powell, by the dozen or so smokers standing around outside LanaLou's, not one of whom was wearing a mask or practicing anything like social distancing. Is this a preview of what's inside? I wondered. Am I ready for this? The thought occurred to me turn around and go home, but I'd told Bob Hanham I would see him there, and packed some gift vids for him and for Betty Bathory, whose birthday bash it was (I gave Bob two great neo-noirs from the London Drugs sale bins, Small Town Crime and Galveston, a copy of that too-ugly-for-me Lars von Trier serial killer film, and brought Maudie, Revenge, and A Vigilante for Betty - all of which you can probably still find on the cheap at a London Drugs near you, selling for 3/$5 as part of a Mongrel/ Saban video dump). Weighing my options, I straightened up and arrived at resolve: fuckit, let's go inside... I think I mighta flirted with putting on a mask at the door, but quickly realized it would have been complete folly, because no one I could see had one on, and there were plenty of people inside. So there it is: How much do I believe that these vaccines will really work? 

Might as well find out. I mean, by the current plan, I'm going back to work face-to-face with the public five days a week in September, without masks or barriers or social distancing, and only a smidgen of extra cleaning. In terms of restrictions, the province seems, in general, to have fallen flat on its back, spread its legs, and told COVID to give us its best shot - so I might as well, too. It seems pretty obvious that we're going to be going back into lockdown mode at some point, that the vaccines will only ever be partially effective, and that the variants of concern out there are not exactly going away, but it also seems pretty clear that WE ARE NEVER GOING TO ARRIVE AT ZERO COVID, not with the two-step "Open and Close" dance we keep doing. If we were ever going to beat this, we would have by now. Trying to keep myself safe when the majority of the general public and the province are trying to "return to normal" is going to get tired soon, and I don't want to become some reclusive shut-in afraid to go out because there are diseases out there... So what the hell, let's take these vaccines out for a test drive, see what they can do. I'm just flat-out bored of trying to be cautious. I'm bored of being in the minority of people who is wearing a mask on public transit - bored of protecting the people who are NOT wearing masks and thus not trying to protect me; where's the sanity in that? Going back to full on punk gigs might not be safe, but like Tesco Vee says, the best punk shows always have an element of danger in them, anyhow; so once through the door, I stuffed my mask in my pocket, and there it remained until I hadda take transit home. 

And y'know - ask me again if it was worth it when I've lost my sense of smell and taste, had a drop in IQ, got the COVID toes, and been on a ventilator - but from where I sit now, I gotta say, it was a great night. Saw a TON of people I have not seen in well over a year. Sat with Gord McCaw and Bob Hanham, whose photographs of the night are obviously gonna put my shitty cellphone snaps to shame (but I still kept trying). Ate poutine, guzzled three Guinness, and bought Clay Holmes a beer and chatted briefly about plans for the WISE Hall and about his new band, Digression, who have a pretty fuckin' clever album title, but no physical album. (Fun music - I would see this live!).

There were many other people I saw last night, most of whom I have not seen for a year - Hey, Dave! Hey, Talesha! Hey, Nick! Hey, Pete! Hey, Norah! It almost felt like community, again, and the social element would alone have made it a successful night. But it didn't hurt that there were three kickass sets of music - which I don't actually have that much to say about, really (I mean, I'm not tryin' to be insightful here). Steady Teddy was great, with a welcome pinch of rockabilly in their mix and a standup bass. Daddy Issues was great, and Betty is a hell of a performer - I sadly could not get any "chicks with dicks" shots (friends with dildos joined the band  onstage), and I missed her later lapdance (Talesha tells me) from a pro stripper and whatever songs she joined the Gnar Gnars for. Orchard Pinkish, in Betty's band, was one of the only people actually in a mask last night, but it was a Plague Doctor one, and their set included some totally fun covers of "Be My Baby" and "Love Gun" (though I *think* the two songs I recorded were originals...?). The Gnar Gnars, whom I'd never seen previously, had a bit of a Dayglos vibe to their music and their rude-as-fuck lyrics, including a song about fucking vacuum cleaners (not a real thing, please tell  me?). A great punk band, it seems - and if they'd been a visible presence at their merch table (if they even had one?) I would have bought (speaking of clever titles) The Gnarnicles of Chronia for sure (and maybe a t-shirt, because holy shit it was hot in there - it was a fuckin' terrarium - and I could have used a change of clothes at the end of the night). 

Alas, my wife had to work early today, so as I often do, I ducked out before the end of the evening. It was kind of a welcome and necessary relief from a year of near-giglessness, and the only two questions that remain for me is a) whether I am going to go see Crummy on Saturday (or would that count as "pushing my luck?"), and whether Betty is gonna come visit me in the hospital next month, when the COVID has me on a ventilator...

...Actually, given how many people hugged her last night, she'll probably be there too! Happy birthday, Betty! 

Tellin' ya, folks - Superspreader. Yours to take, free!  

(Photos by Allan MacInnis, in reverse order, except for the last two, from the end of the night). 

Male midlife crisis thrillers for men and women alike: Nobody, Small Town Crime, and Boss Level

I haven't anything serious to write about at the moment. I mean, not that I can do justice to. I'm beaten. My internet time has been spent going back and forth from videos by Dr. Robert Malone to stories about residential school graves to news of millions of sea creatures cooked alive in their shells during our heatwave to the constantly changing public messaging around the pandemic (NACI says that mix-and-matching is safe, and that's what I ended up doing, shortly before the WHO came out against it...). I'm full of low-key anxiety that our mass reopening might  be precipitous, expecting COVID numbers to open up, and then again wondering if people's fears aren't as overheated as those dead mussels on the beach. Add to that the uncertainties and vicissitudes of daily life and, well folks, I'm beat, and simply cannot muster the strength enough to write something serious at the moment. 

So I'm going to just write about some movies I have enjoyed. Somewhat lowbrow ones. Entertainments, with aging white men as their chosen demographic. Sorry. I am, after all, an aging white man, what can I say?

Actually, it's funny how enduring movies are aimed at that demographic, even still - mostly movies about men who need to "remasculate" themselves (I am sure someone else has used that term before, but I was still impressed when Erika used it tonight, watching one such movie, as it was the first either of us had encountered it - so it had the effect of a clever coinage, regardless of whether it has been done before). You know the type - movies about (apparent) family men who suddenly must summon and re-master past violence to confront and set right a great evil (or better yet, protect an innocent from a threat). There's a long and deep trench of American popular cinema - from Unforgiven and A History of Violence to more trivial formula fare like John Wick - that has been dug by these films, which ultimately seem to reduce to being "male midlife crisis movies" - fantasies to assuage the bruised ego of men who have had to tone down their game to enter family life, who are aware of the vulnerabilities of getting old and need their egos and sense of themselves as "men of action" reassured. Bruce Willis is the poster-boy and patron saint of these films, and Die Hard is perhaps their pinnacle achievement - but has dropped weirdly below visibility lately, making films on a smaller and smaller budget that are about as alluring as the later career of Steven Seagal. He was even effectively replaced by Liam Neeson for awhile, but no matter: as long as your star is a white man aged 35-65, you can make one of these movies; the stars come and go, but the formula abides. They also invariably involve guns and bad guys and shootouts (oh my!). There is often a family that must be protected, that is ill-prepared to face the true nature of the main male character (the transformation of the milquetoast mathematician in Straw Dogs to efficient killer, for example, defending his home). The home is often destroyed along the way, or at least riddled with bullets, but the family is usually saved - essential to our continuing to identify with our hero as a hero... unless it turns out that the family is working with the bad guys to make sure the hero remains less than he can be (Total Recall springs to mind). 

Given how obvious their appeals are to the psychology of male filmgoers - often family men, or at least married men, whose lives are no doubt also less wild than they were in their 20's - it's curious to me that so many women I have known enjoy these sorts of films, too. They seem to have an appeal across gender boundaries. Whatever Carol J. Clover might say about the feminist aspects of the "final girl" in slasher films - whom male audiences seem also to be able to identify with, also crossing the lines of gender - Erika will choose John McClane over even a great final-girl slasher film any day (I actually tried Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 on her, Dr. Clover, I swear, but she's just not that type of girl; I still plan to attempt the Hooper Toolbox Murders with her someday, which is so self-aware it makes me sure Hooper read your book, but I don't have great faith she'll dig it). Maybe there's something about the midlife crisis that appeals to women, too, even if almost all of these films have, somewhere as their subtext, the validation of the law of the father and the principle that father knows best...? Do they enjoy seeing the male ego laid so bare, or do they just identify with the man and get into it?

Mom, come to think of it, would often be yelling "kill him" at the screen during the final showdown of such movies. I think her identification with the hero was pretty complete, at such times... 

Anyhow, you wouldn't necessarily think that women could enjoy these sorta films, but Erika will sit down to such a film any day. They actually are kind of a middle ground we can both enjoy - and while it is sometimes odd to me the films I cannot share with her, the fact that I can lay the occasional Bronson on her is most appreciated. So we've been watching a bunch of these lately, Erika and I, and have caught some really good ones. Anyhow. that's what I sat down to write about... 

Nobody is pretty entertaining, in a silly, somewhat embarrassingly lowbrow, but still kind of witty, way: it knows what it is and approaches things with a smirk. It's great to see Bob Odenkirk as the star of the show, for a role that no doubt was written for him. It is on the more tongue-and-cheek end of the male-midlife-crisis thriller spectrum: A History of Violence by way of John Wick, with a few star turns from people who we might have expected to be retired by now (Michael Ironside, Christopher Lloyd). Erika and I also enjoyed Breaking Bad (another recent high point in the male-midlife-crisis-thriller genre), though we have yet to enter Better Call Saul. I hope the world doesn't end before we get the chance to. 

I also quite liked Small Town Crime, with John Hawkes, an actor I've enjoyed since the days of Benny's World of Blood, and with a small role for Robert Forster. It is also a bit on the lowbrow end of the spectrum - an escapist fantasy, ultimately - but more of a noir, with richer, more compromised, more "human" characters than the other films in this post, and quite a bit more grit (haven't quite figured out how its esthetic works with that of the director's next film, the "Mel Gibson as vengeful Santa thriller," Fatman, which probably also belongs in this genre - Mel's another poster-boy for it, really - but that one is quite a bit stranger than either this film or the average one; I mean, Santa?) Anyone who has missed Small Town Crime, incidentally, should go looking in the cheap bins at London Drugs; at least here in BC, Mongrel, or someone related, has dumped hundreds of underperforming movies to be sold at 3/$5, and Small Town Crime is by far the best of the half-dozen we've looked at so far. (Maudie, which is NOT a male midlife crisis movie, is also in these bins; The Trust and Galveston are also worth a watch, and A Vigilante, Marrowbone, and Revenge all look promising, though not relevant to this entry). 

And speaking of Mel Gibson, he's also in the new Joe Carnahan, Boss Level, which is also very fun, taking in elements of time-loop thrillers like Source Code or Edge of Tomorrow - all of which of course owe something to Groundhog Day - and structuring them like an RPG. It's all quite clever, definitively solidifies the "time loop thriller" as a subgenre of SF, and has a nice lead role for Frank Grillo, though Carnahan-wise, I liked the Grillo film Wheelman far more, which is by far the best new car chase thriller I've seen in years (beats the shit out of Drive and Baby Driver, anyhow; I'm not going to compare it to Ford Vs. Ferrari, though, since that's a different animal). Gibson plays the heavy - a small role, really, which I don't think Mel is particularly suited for (he's a lead actor, and seems to handle anything less with the same sets of mannerisms). Again, it is smartassed and tongue-in-cheek about what it is doing; it's about as serious, ultimately, as Carnahan's A-Team movie (which Erika and I also enjoyed together), but both Boss Level and Wheelman are definitely also male-midlife-crisis movies. Neither of them are as good as The Grey, also by Carnahan, which explicitly amps up the "facing mortality" aspects of the midlife crisis movie - that ultimate emasculation that awaits us all - but... if what you need is a white man of a certain age in trouble, facing mediocrity or irrelevance, needing to prove himself with violence... well, any of these are pretty great, actually...

I am, understand, all for movies that are not about men needing to remasculate themselves, torn between their nostalgia for wild youth on the one hand and their loss of male potency, on the other... I am as puzzled that I myself can still enjoy a good Die Hard movie as that Erika can. Shouldn't cinema be more than this? Don't I miss my own youth, watching arthouse films and reading film criticism? Are these films really in some subtle way about re-asserting white male dominance that come to the fore when exactly that is being threatened? 

Shit, I don't know, we just needed some light entertainment, and Boss Level, Small Town Crime, and Nobody all were a lot of fun. Don't judge us.

Heatwave!

 Awake at 3am, soaked in sweat.

Having given up on finding an air conditioner, Erika and I spent a part of last night shopping for an available hotel room to sleep in, and/or an additional electric fan to help generate extra coolness with. 

No dice. (And no aircon, no extra fan, and no cool room to sleep in - it's all booked up, sold out, TAKEN). 

We've left the cat at Erika's work - there's a room much cooler there than ours and though we have some misgivings about not being there with him, he's going to be soooo much more comfortable there than he would be here (he really wasn't doing too well yesterday - he barfed all over one of his blankets and was just lying there in it, like he didn't much care, just limp and flat and exhausted). We tried to find a vet who could put him up for the night - also nada, no luck, no dice. I spent most of yesterday at MY work, tutoring from the campus, where there is air conditioning, and Erika will be back there at her job in a few hours to hang out with him again. 

I kinda wish he were here, or we were there, but it is soooo hot here... am scheduled to get my second COVID vaccine today, but they've changed locations because the first site was too hot! Not quite sure how that's going to play out, but I sure could use a few more hours before I have to deal with it (and with work - the show must go on, come 9:45AM).

Falling asleep wasn't too bad, but waking up after three hours isn't too good. Gonna go back to bed, but we're up for a bit to pee and hydrate and splash ourselves with cool water. 

Hot as I've ever been. Japan used to have some wicked heat in summer, when I lived there, but this feels worse - fear-for-this-planet worse. 

Arrgh. Stay cool folks. Good luck. 

Vaccines, writing, and MIDSOMMAR DIRECTOR'S CUT AT THE RIO!

Waiting for the pharmacy to call about the second shot - they missed week eight, I guess (which for me finishes today). I'm anxious about what to get now that NACI has actually RECOMMENDED getting Pfizer or Moderna if your first shot was AZ. My doctor's homepage doesn't really weigh in one way or another - it says it is "safe" but resists making claims about it being preferred or more effective, which makes me wonder if NACI knows something my doctor doesn't, or if my doctor is just more cautious (which is what I suspect). Still kinda resent that I have to try to sort out which way to go; getting vaccinated in a pandemic shouldn't be this complicated!

In other news, I did not make it to a record store on Record Store Day to buy Lou Reed's Set the Twilight Reeling on LP. It's a Lou I actually quite like - it is kinda jammy and off-the-cuff compared to, say, Ecstasy or Magic and Loss, but has some real wit on it, and, I mean, "Hookywooky" is idiotically fun - but the one store I asked for a price was asking $46. That's TWO HOURS of work at my day job, for me - I just can't justify it. 

Mostly I'm going to be trying to focus my energies this weekend on transcribing John Wright. I kinda sure don't FEEL like writing right now, though. Erika's away, I'm not at work, and I kinda just want to shake loose a little, take a walk or something - I've been sitting in this chair all week. I couldn't even pick a movie to watch last night, I'm so restless - ended up spending an hour and a half on ContraPoints' video on JK Rowling, which was VERY entertaining and very helpful in confirming stuff I suspected about Rowling but - not being trans, barely knowing anyone trans - had no confidence about asserting. Thanks, Natalie! 

The big excitement this weekend? Midsommar director's cut at the Rio on Sunday. I've only been able to do it previously as an iTunes download. If you liked the theatrical version, the director's cut is longer and richer. As I put it in a FB message, "the central male-female dynamic and its archetypal resonances - a bit more unilinear. The half hour added to this cut fleshes out the academic rivalry between the men and other aspects of the men's narratives, and gets a bit more into the feelings about the female character's re: her sister's suicide, all of which actually widens the space the movie deals with and makes it richer and deeper, and a little less suspect, misogyny-wise." (In its shorter form, while still rich, it seems like it MIGHT just reduce to being a "devouring vagina" movie; it is hard to be that simple about it in the director's cut). Anyhow, that's nice. Which I'd had a double-dose of whatever vaccine they're gonna give me by this point, but fuckit, I'm going to the movie, one dose will do (the last movie I saw theatrically, they didn't even HAVE vaccines yet, so...).

Note - for those who have missed it, this is the richest, most interesting film - even better than Left Bank or Apostle, both of which I loved - to deal with neo-Paganism since The Wicker Man. While it is mostly psychological, artful and slowly-paced, it also has a couple of really upsetting, shocking bits of horror that you should know exist BEFORE you go see the film - it's not for the fragile. Brilliant film, tho'. Good work, Rio - this is an inspired programming choice. (I thought you were a sports bar now?). 

Staying on the topic of unmarked burials and mass graves...

Yet another thing I've posted first on Facebook, but am re-posting here. Not really caring about writing about pop culture lately - have another project in the works, maybe, dealing with this (AFTER I clear John Wright). It was a bit of an ugly week for me on Facebook - I got annoyed with a trivial meme that called for "arresting teachers, priests and nuns" who worked at residential schools - hardly "the next step," here, and not even something that I think should be done. Had a couple of idiots describe me as a Nazi sympathizer because I don't think having been a priest or teacher or nun at one of these schools is ALONE enough to warrant "arresting" people, but whoever wrote the meme - it was posted by Chris Walter - probably wasn't really seriously thinking about what the next step should be; the point was that the next step SHOULDn't be "lowering flags," which is kind of useless symbolism where there is a need for action, and more what you  might think would come of the Liberals. (That part I agree with). 

Anyhow, after some ugliness on FB and one person being unfriended/ blocked, I've posted this - about all I've got right now, but there might be more to come on the topic, once I get John Wright squared away:

(Commence verbatim Facebook post): 

Been accused of being "tone deaf" for a comment on a thread. Going to try to be careful here - not wanting to give offense or hurt anyone. Talking about the 215 children. Mostly I've been reading. Some people might be interested in the following; even if you're not interested in my opinions, there are links to websites I didn't know about that other people might profit from visiting.

What the discovery at Kamloops mostly brings home is that there are apparently THOUSANDS MORE undocumented/ unmarked graves of indigenous children across Canada, on the sites of former residential schools. In 1914, apparently a department official said, "Fifty per cent of the children who passed through these schools did not live to benefit from the education which they had received therein." The Liberal minister quoting that, Gary Merasty, characterized the residential schools as "places of disease, hunger, overcrowding, and despair." That's on page 4 of the Missing Children and Unmarked Burials volume of the TRC report. 

While not disputing that abuse happened at these schools, some of the burials would seem to be due to large outbreaks of tuberculosis and influenza in the early 20th century. I am still unclear if what was found in Kamloops was a "mass grave" or an "unmarked cemetery;" the two terms have been used interchangeably in the media, but it's a distinction that newspapers don't seem to be being careful about. A mass grave suggests many people dying in a short time and being buried in a very undignified fashion, especially by a church that places a lot of ritual and import on what happens to someone after they die. There is, it turns out, some precedent for this, a mass grave mentioned in the TRC report - as many as 78 bodies in Ft. St. James. From page 119 of the report:

Several of the schools were overwhelmed by the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. All but two of the children and all of the staff were stricken with influenza at the Fort St. James, British Columbia, school and surrounding community in 1918. Seventy-eight people, including students, died. Initially, Father Joseph Allard, the school principal, conducted funeral services at the mission cemetery. But, as he wrote in his diary, the 'others were brought in two or three at a time, but I could not go to the graveyard with all of them. In fact, several bodies were piled up in an empty cabin because there was no grave ready. A large common grave was dug for them.'

There's not many other mentions of common graves in the report - only one other that I can find, again tied to an outbreak of disease, roughly in that same section of the report. That's why the language around mass graves is so disturbing (and the lack of media distinction between mass graves and unmarked burials is so annoying, since the latter suggests people dying over a much longer period, as part of a business-as-usual secret practice; that may actually be the more horrifying scenario, and the one that seems more likely to correlate with deaths from abuse). But whether mass graves or unmarked burials, if there are an estimated 4000-5000 burial sites out there - they need to be found, and there needs to be some urgency around it, because - does anyone out there, at this point, trust Justin Trudeau to do more than SAY the right thing?

That raises the question: what IS being done? The government of Canada, it turns out, has a "Missing children and burial information" page. It lists the Calls to Action in the TRC report around locating these sites. Almost every call to action has the same language in the answer - variations on the following paragraph:

Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada has begun discussions with various partners, internal and external to the federal government, towards collaborating on an engagement strategy to gain a better understanding of the range of Indigenous family and community needs and interests and about how best to move forward in a comprehensive manner on all of the calls to actions regarding children who died or went missing while attending Indian residential schools (Calls to Action 72 to 76).

As one expects, the language is vague and prompting of skepticism, suggesting a slow process with many politicians talking, but apparently things ARE being done. Budget 2019 apparently "announced $33.8 million over 3 years, starting in fiscal year 2019 to 2020, to develop and maintain the National Residential School Student Death Register and work with parties to establish and maintain an online registry of residential school cemeteries." That website is here: https://nctr.ca/memorial/

I am no sort of activist. I don't know what to do to impress upon the federal government how imperative it seems to locate other sites like the one in Kamloops (there are residential school sites all over BC, including one in North Vancouver and one in Mission. There is an interactive map online to see if you live near one: https://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/beyond-94-residential-school-map/ ). I don't really even know how "ground penetrating radar" works, let alone how to pressure the government to make sure every community has the resources to access it. If people have suggestions, I'm all there - mostly all I'm going to be good for is reading and writing, but... there seems some urgency here. It's going to be a tough year or two, though, because - if there are anywhere between 3300 and 5000 other burial sites across Canada... what percentage of that is 215? (Not very good at math, either, but it's not a very large percent).