Ethics versus family.

A small family affair a couple weekends ago found me with my son, my daughter, Anya, and her stepfather at the Telus World of Science to see Body Worlds 2 and the Brain.


I was listening to Jian Gomeshi on Q about a week previously and he interviewed a curator from Seattle (can't remember her name) who was part of a lobby that convinced city counsel to ban Body Worlds exhibits and others that display cadavers.  As Counselmember Burns said, "Crowds of people would line up as if they were at a movie theater, smiling and chatting as they waited. But they weren't going to see a film — they were going to see cadavers staged in poses, as if playing football or volleyball, for example.  They had no sense that these bodies were precious human beings to some family."   http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012391385_bodies19m.html


Indeed.  


The Catholic Church and Falun Gong have both protested the exhibits, of which there are seven (one is of animals) that have been displayed in over 50 countries at different times since the mid-1990s.  They believe along with members of various Jewish sects (and I'm sure many other religious bodies), that this is a profound disrespect to the human body.  Their main contention, however, is that there is actually no proof that these bodies, which come from China, were volunteered by the individual or their respective families.  Rumours swirl and persist that these are executed political prisoners, some presumably Falun Gong and Christians. 


While the persecutions of Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, traditional Chinese faiths and Falun Gong by the Communist government is well documented (Christian & Falun Gong 2004, Falun Gong Wikipedia) there has not been much protest among Western nations given that trade with China is pretty much a total necessity these days.  Without poorly paid Chinese labourers, prices for toys, computer products, clothing, automobiles and etc. would be much higher. For almost no useful information on the controversies at all click a very biased (pro) wikipedia article on Body Worlds.


Protest against our own high standard of living?  Not many of us will. 


So I went to Body Worlds.  I didn't even realize that the controversial exhibit was showing at Science World until I was in line. What do I do?  Walk away?  This is the only time that I'll be able to spend with my daughter this weekend, visit with her step-father and spend an outing with my soon-to-be exhausted son.  Besides, is this the one that people are protesting?  Maybe it is a different exhibit, not the one I just heard about on Q.  This is my defence - I didn't know.

Ever seen the inside of a brain with a tumour or kidney stones in a splayed stomach or a three week old fetus in a jar?  Ever see a grown man sliced vertically into 15 slivers?  I did.  And I was shocked and not a little creeped out.  I have to admit, I also learned a fair amount.  But enough to be worth it?

I also took photos that I'll probably get sued for. 
Here is the best one taken slyly from my iPhone.

Gunther von Hagens (the main dude) seems like a bit of a Machiavellian creep to me.  He 'invented' plastination, is a doctor (although not a medical doctor), he is wealthy because he has turned dead humans into a sport of spectator consumption and ... according to his interview on Q can't actually prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these bodies are not executed Chinese prisoners.  He also insists that he does this for the good of educating our children and ourselves.  Yeah right .....


It reminds me of the album Outside by David Bowie.  The album is a sort of dystopian, kafkaesque story of a near future where hanging body parts are all the rage in underground art galleries.  The album feels apocalyptic and Bowie is more graphic then Gunther.  He also doesn't pretend that this art is constructed for educational purposes and the good of humankind. It is purely voyeuristic, self-serving and shallow fascination.


I'l leave you with this rather disturbing song from the album.  You form your opinion about cadavers and the display of human body parts.  I have formed mine and you won't find me going again to another Body Worlds or anything similar. 


The Voyeur Of Utter Destruction (As Beauty)
I shake
And stare at the sun
Till my eyes burn
I shake
At the mothers brutal vermin
I shake
And stare at the watery moon
With the same desire
As the sober Philistine
And I shake
(Turn and turn again)
Worm, the pain and blade
Turn and turn again

The screw
Is a tightening Atrocity
I shake
For the reeking flesh
Is as romantic as hell
The need
To have seen it all
The Voyeur of Utter Destruction
As beauty
I shake
Turn and turn again
I shake
Turn and turn again
I shake

BCMA Top 10 Part 2

I guess I better, before this year's BCMA becomes part of my (dis)remembered past.

Top 10 continues.....

5) I'm a libertarian.  Yup, I admit it.  I don't like government control, I don't like being forced into a collective, I want my own freedom to choose and screw up on my own.  That said, there is something to be said about  being part of a collective, a commune, a kibbutz ... a common way of thinking.  To me, it's  not balance that is key (that just doesn't seem possible to me) but more like tilting the axis back and forth, instead of weighing heavily either way.  This BCMA contained elements of that.  Where we want community, we also need to have individuals making informed decisions.  Participation in community spaces, where the local museum firmly sits, cannot be achieved without the actions of members taking responsibility for themselves while working collectively in groups.  Happily, I often saw and felt this at the BCMA.  I would like to see more.  A place to start: join the Young Museum Workers Coalition on Facebook.
4) Social Media.  Tweets, blogs, messages, youtube, etc. are all the rage right now.  Let's get on the bandwagon folks.  Remember, there is a tipping point, a place where everyone who invested on the upwards curve have varying degrees of success while those that join when the trend is on a downward path are way behind the pack.   A word of advice: if you are going to begin engaging in social media, you need to 1) Share with others, 2) Refer others 3) look for new sites, advances, changes, etc.  Pretty much a fulltime job.  So, museum, art gallery, archives and general cultural geeks, here's a link, passed on to me by my esteemed colleague, Liz Czerwinski, for you to begin further exploration: http://www.collectionslink.org.uk/.  Join up!  I just did.
3) Alcohol.  "Alcohol, alcohol stop me.  Stop me if you think that you've heard this one before ...".  What's a blog without a musical reference?  Well, what's a conference without a few? Enjoyed drinks at a number of local pubs/clubs/drinking establishments.  One evening Paul, Julie and I walked past another with the inviting sign "$6 for a beer and whiskey shot".  Tempting?  Yes, but soon found out that it was kareoke night when we overheard someone drunkenly belting out Bohemian Rhapsody.  Although impressed, I suddenly felt it really was time for bed and Jon Stewart.
2) Speaking of Jon Stewart, the following evening I found myself listening to Obama speak.  This resulted in a "we love Obama" conversation (over drinks) the next day.  Well, martinis really.  Every time I hear/see Obama speak, I place both feet in his camp.  However, as the ringing of his voice slowly fades, I move back to sitting on the fence.  Remember, I'm a libertarian and although numbingly slow, the American veto system seems to be just the right mix for a divided country.
1) And now, the drum roll .... Should it be funny?  Smart?  Philosophical?   Slightly cheesy and lovie-dovie?  I'll go with the latter.  Conversation at the AGM centred on being inclusive.  The BCMA seems to be stuffed with heritage/history museums, especially of the small variety.  And I'm happy for that because God knows that the small local museum is where the heart is and is also where the communities live.  However, I could write a whole essay, a diatribe if you will, on the lack of inclusivity, the parochial nature of museums, the false elitism and the snobbery of museum professionals.  But, thank the good Lord, I won't.  Instead, I'll just leave at this: don't forget the natural museums (thank you Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC for representing), the science museums, the art galleries (again, thank you Paul Crawford from the Penticton Art Gallery), and more.  We need you all.  You all represent the people, so people, stand up and say 'I'.

And that, my friends is enough of museums for a little while.  Stay tuned for a post-colonial interpretation of The Smith's "Vicar in Tutu".  Ha!

Inspiration? My top 10 at the BCMA.

Oh to be inspired. What is it that drives us to succeed? Sometimes, but only sometimes, I find myself so fully absorbed in a project that I get giddy. It is exciting to realize that the day went by and I didn't spend any time on facebook/twitter/linkdin/cbc.ca/bbc/, etc., etc.....

I've spent an inspiring week at the British Columbia Museums Association conference in beautiful Nanaimo, BC.  I've reconnected, met new people and gained some incredible insights.

My top ten - well lets start with 5.  I'll add more next post:
10) Enjoying fantastic conversations with new and old friends.  Cumberland, Langley, Penticton, Wells, Victoria, Vancouver, Richmond, Port Moody, New Westminster, Kamloops ... I salute you.
9) Plenary A:  Nina Simon.  Talk about inspirational!  She spoke of the 'participatory' museum where people actively use the museum and contribute to it's essence (www.museumtwo.blogspot.com).  I would add to this by saying that we need to begin encouraging local communities and neighbourhoods to use the museum as their meeting place, as their place of refuge, as the place where communities are strengthened through a common discourse and cultural ownership.  Museums are perfect places for this.  Lets get the communities to curate exhibits, organize speakers series and be full partners in cultural/artistic events.
8) Keynote:  Bob Janes (editor of Museum Management and Curatorship) and Jacqueline Gijssen (senior Cultural Planner in Vancouver).  Along the lines of (9) but at a deeper, more philosophical level where the museum drives change and contributes to positive change from the local to the global.  They spoke of the need for organizational change at the social level that can only occur when we choose to change our world view from that of being.  Museums are more influential then the public (and us museum professionals) realize. Museums tell stories of who we are.  Without even realizing it, their discourse moves towards hegemony of storytelling ... who else is telling our stories in a publicly sanctioned way apart from (often) segregated cultural groups.  But museums are often parochial, white, regressive and uninspiring.  We (the museum professionals) need to look beyond our 'mandated' areas to see the wider picture, the big bad world.  That is where the inspiration comes from.  That is where change occurs ... when we tackle the big issues and bring them down to a level where people can understand, be motivated, take responsibility and give.
7) Vancouver Police Museum.  Lets just say that I'm impressed with what Chris has done and is doing.  www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca
6) Cumberland Museum.  Ummm, can anyone say labour history?  We need more like you.  (overheard in a pub:  "We need to unionize more museums").  What do you say, comrade?
5) Well that's about it now.... more next post.

Changing the way we think about education.

In our fast-paced, overstimulated society, it is no wonder that educators and cousellors find it easier to prescribe medications and search for defaults in children (and adults) instead of looking at how we are taught.  This youtube video is excellant in depicting how we have changed but our education system has largely stayed in an Fordist, industrial paradigm .... think about it: bells, exact/set times, group think (teaching), generalizations, discipline for those that cannot conform, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U

Sublime inspirations.

A colleague of mine passed this on to me today. Nothing like heritage photography of folks like Tom Thompson mixed in with a bit of history and phychoanalysis .... and flash. Ah yes. Enjoy. http://www.images.technomuses.ca/?en/searching_sublime/intro_flash/page/1/

October already?

A summer has gone by the wayside. Not much in it except sunlight, lazying around, playing gigs, going to Ontario for a family reunion ... and physiotherapy. So, lots really.

For shits sakes, I can't believe how long this leg is taking to heal. Now, I have to get 2 screws out. Apparently, the pressure you put on the ankle is somuch that screws sometimes break, which can be a bitch to take out! So back to surgery I go. It is looking less and less likely that I'll be snowboarding until the spring. Oh well, at least I'm biking again. Started last week. I biked four times to work this week.

My route is a gorgeous commute from east Van, under the skytrain, across Boundary into Burnaby an along Still Creek. I often see finches and of course the ducks and geese are plentiful. I saw a couple otters a while back, which was an incredible experience.

Going to the BCMA conference (www.museumsassn.bc.ca) in a few weeks. I'm looking forward to getting linked back in to the museum scene. It has been a while and I look forward t

o learning some new things, meeting some new people and seeing ones I haven't seen in a while.

Played the WISE Hall last night with Pawnshop Diamond. I love hanging out with

those guys, playing music and being creative. We also played a gorgeous venue for Rifflandia F

estival (www.rifflandia.com). Here's a photo of the Alix Goolden Hall in Victoria.

Music and work and a bum leg.

Went to work on Monday and Tuesday. Not today - my body is screaming "NO"! When I got home yesterday, after only 5 hours, I was exhausted and in pain. It was raining and I slipped on the crutches but didn't fall thank God. However, the clenching of my foot and ankle from the slip gave me hardcore pain for the rest of the day. Its incredible how sensitive everything is. Aches and pains come from all sorts of weird places in my hips and lower back. The bottom of my foot (broken bones side), gives off these bizarre phantom pains that stretch all the way up to my thigh sometimes. I call the pain phantom because I don't know why or where they come from - I'm sure they are part of the healing process though ...

Tomorrow I play a gig at The WISE Hall (www.thewisehall.ca) with Eldorado (www.eldoradotheband.com). We play with the Abramson Singers and Buffaloswan. It will be a great down-home country swingin'/hipster fun night at a great hall. I love play at the WISE Hall!

After I see the kids today - yes, I'm excited! - I am going to band practice for a couple new songs we are working on as well as I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty. Easy enough tune but, as always with Tom Petty, beautifully constructed with his signature laid-back tempo. I'm hoping I won't be too exhausted for tomorrow, when I see the surgeon and I get my cast changed and stitches taken out. I'm looking forward to that!

Work Day 1

Went to work today. Lasted 4 hours. I'm exhausted and in pain and happy to be back to my friendly couch. I talked to my boss today and I'm going to work 1/2 days at the museum and the other 1/2 at home this week. Next week if I'm still struggling, I will begin with the sick days (since they start on May 22). Also, next monday is a holiday, which makes things easier.

Porch jam yesterday. Fun playing on a porch with banjo, mandolin, guitars, acoustic bass and a dobrow and accordian! Yeeha!

Already, I've Been Remiss

Wow. Three days since I last wrote.

Friday:

Macieg came over in afternoon and we set up outside. Basically moved my couch paraphernalia from the living room to the back porch and had a huge smorgasboard of food and drink. A little messy back there since I have not had the chance to get anything done but gorgeous weather and fantastic friendship. Other friends came over a little later and a few beers were had. By evening, I was too exhausted to even contemplate going to a potluck/party ... the last thing I wanted to do was sit on a couch in someone elses house with the heat of summer and bodies around me. So I just made myself to bed and finished off "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo". Genre: murder mystery/thriller. My least favourite but I got stuck on it and just HAD to finish it. I recommend it but only half-heartedly.

Saturday:

Katie came back from her two nights away refreshed and ready to go to G and J's wedding. I had fed the kittens (took about 10 minutes!) and eaten all of the easily to eat food in the house. I had told Katie that I would not go to the wedding - I felt I didn't have the strength - but the temptation of putting on a suit jacket and trimming my new-found beard was too much to ignore.

So, I did it. Put on a black jacket over white shirt. Black slacks and boots (well, one boot - covered the other foot with big black sock!) and sunglasses and I was ready to go. Katie looked gorgeous in an almost black, printed summer dress, colourful scarf and big/tall black boots. Of course we forgot to take pictures of ourselves so I have nothing for the blog.

The wedding was in a gorgeous little Anglican church called Church-In-The-Woods in West Vancouver, just outside Lighthouse Park. Stain-glass fantastic. Music touching and sentimental. I Corinthians reading about Love. The reverend spoke well and plainly, which is always refreshing.

The reception was in a restaurant that overlooked West Vancouver, the bay, Stanley Park, Vancouver and UBC. Wow. Great food, people, booze, music, speaches and lotsa love. I'm happy for G and J. They seem to be doing everything the 'right' way. We were able to meet and chat with some pretty cool and interesting people.

Now its almost 1 pm on Sunday. I'm just recovering. 8.5 hours out of the house nearly killed me! Today is Porch Jam at Dave's place at 5 and a bit of cleaning at home.

Weather: Overcastish, breezy, possible rain later in afternoon.

Lazy Thursday afternoons.

Sometimes I get panicky and paranoid when I am not in absolute control. That worries me and certainly makes life difficult for Katie. We have had some arguments about this because it is really hard to be humble and accept that it is me that creates tension and confusing situations.

Its almost like I choose to act panicky as a way of getting people to give me the attention and assistance I believe I deserve. I play victim a lot ... and that's all I will say about that.

Is this really what blogging is for? Feels more like a diary to me ... a diary that the whole world can see. Ouch.

So instead, I will describe my surroundings. Kitties are napping (its 2:45 in afternoon). The morning went by really quickly and the plug on my laptop is screwed so I had to wait to blog and do computer work (e.g. finding venue contact info for Pawnshop or emailing work) with Katie's laptop. I'm sitting lengthways on our white cotton couch (kind of a dirty white now though), which faces our large picture window in the living room. The window lets in the evening sun. Across the street is the city block sized park - small soccer field in background; foreground has tennis/basketball court (middle/left) and playground at right. In front of these are a couple huge trees and to the far right a nightwatchperson's home/public washrooms building. A sidewalk runs around the park. The photo really tells the story.

Weather today is blue skies, slight breeze and high of 20 C. Geez I'm missing out on some fantastic weather!

They call it Hump Day

What an awful name for a day of the week. Honestly. Hump Day? It sounds so crude and rude. Images of humpback whales are interspresed by pornographic movies of people humping themselves on their way to work ... Do people really get excited about the fact that Wednesday is in the middle of the week?

Its almost like we measure ourselves by milestones and events to bring some sort of cultural meaning into our life. Check off the day and move on... don't call it Wednesday, call it Hump Day. Instead of enjoying the day, lets just look ahead to the weekend because work is not supposed to be fun (right?) and fun is what counts (right?). Geez! No wonder our lives are so fast and fleeting and inconsequential ... even as we insist on being of some consequence.

Well, damnit, I'm going to enjoy Wednesday! Here, on the couch.

Its 11:30 right now and I have paid bills, phoned three music venues to book Pawnshop Diamond for our Northern BC tour in June, played with the kittens, made arrangements for the kids this weekend and eaten. What's more is that the pain has lessoned considerably today. I only just took 1/2 a painkiller because it was getting a bit much. That is over 12 hours since the last time I took a painkiller. Still a lot of discomfort, of course, but hey!, I did break a couple bones!

Kittens charging around right now. I had to scoot them off the coffee table as they were eating my food!

Weather today is periodically slightly overcast. Strong breeze and a satisfying high of 18 C.

Tuesdays are for kittens.

I look out the window at kids playing basketball in the park and all I can think is thank God I don't have to throw a ball right now. I had a bath this morning, which was a rather complicated affair involving a milk crate, garbage bag, cushion, and long-handled pot.

To put it lightly, I feel waaaay better and 100% cleaner (which I probably am).

A week ago, Katie got two kittens to foster. The idea was that we would try them out on our roomate, who sometimes has allergic reactions to cats, and see what happens. The society gave us two little feral kitties that needed love and attention. Zoe and Joel and Katie and Anya (along with every visitor that comes through the door) jumped at the chance and now we have two kittens that charge around the house with no fear, fighting each other, racing down the hallway, cartwheeling across the bed. From feral to tame. Kudos to Katie.

So, the dilemma. Keep'm both, send'm back and adopt a different kitten or keep one of them. Me, I'd like to keep both of them but a little unfair for our roomate. However, the key is not to get too attached to them right now, although that may be too late. They even have names. From Ninja (the black) and Heart (the gray, and named by Joel) to Soleil Ninja Brooke Ormiston and Sarah Heart Alexandra Saffery.

Now, I've gotta find a way to water the garden. I planted a gorgeous clematis before 'the accident' and have not checked on them since.

A little oxycodone should help. Right?

Weather today? A gorgeous 18 C with moderate breeze. Blue skies.

Monday morning blues?

Today is my best day yet since the accident. I woke up with hardly any pain at 5:30 am and realized that I had slept the whole night, with the help of two oxycodones. When the pain returned this morning I took only one pain killer and have been able to work on show bookings for the band, arrange work for staff at the museum, find someone at work to do signing for staff hours, etc. and make a doctor's appointment.

I'm not allowed to do anything and really, I can't. Believe me, if I could, I would. Instead I need to lie on bed or couch. Yesterday I didn't even leave the bedroom except for a brief living room appearance in the morning. I was still pretty foggy, in shock and in a lot of pain. I spent most of the day in a total haze of drugs and movies, while today (so far) I have felt clear-headed and more alive. Less pain too ...

Weather today: light breeze; 14 C; sunny.

So far no blues today.

Of plates and bolts and ankles and legs.

I was going about 45 kms/hr when the toe-edge of my board caught a chunk of ice and I twisted through the air. This, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. Generally you hit the snow, pop back up and off you go. Things were different this time. My board caught, and when I twisted around my left ankle twisted inside my boot. The only popping I did was when I heard the pop in my ankle ...

I tried to get up to no avail - there was nothing to feel in my left ankle and bottom of the leg - and the pain ... oh my god! I took my boot off and moved the foot around. It felt weird and disjointed so I put the boot back on and sat there looking down the hill from the top of Blackcomb in Whistler.

It took about 30 minutes for a ski patrol guy named Dominic to arrive. He felt around, chatted, check my neck, head and shoulders. He also checked my other leg and my thighs. No pain except that damn ankle. In hindsight I realize that when the sled arrived I was in quite a bit of shock. I hadn't talked much except to joke a bit and I figured I would get down the hill, hobble to the chalet and drink a couple of beers. Instead, I was informed that an ambulance was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill. No special coffees, no food ...

After a trip down the mountain on a sled (strapped in like a mummy, looking at blue sky with puffy white cumulus clouds and wondering if I was going to be part of some slapstick comedy where the sled dislodges and hurtles down the hill) I was hustled into the ambulance. I still felt fine. I realised things were serious but, hey, a tensor bandage always does the trick. When the paramedic took off my boot however, things took a rather nasty turn. The purple ankle, on both sides, looked awful and it was triumphantly announced to me that I probably broke my ankle in two places ....

Waiting in the hospital. Only T3s in my belly even though they offered me something stronger. Fuck I need to pee! I have had two coffees and a bottle of water today and have yet to go to the washroom and now I have been sitting here (well lying here actually) for two hours.

Nope, not allowed till after the xray.

Xray time and all I can think about is taking a leak.

After xray my nurse announces that I cannot go to bathroom because I have broken my ankle AND my leg. She promply hands me a cardboard bottle thingy with a handle and closes the curtains with a smile. (With dismay and delight, I recognize that smile. This nurse stitched up my son's foot last year after he cut it with my machete while chopping kindling. We had been camping in Pemberton area - really up in the bush - and that cut really changed the rest of the week! And now she was telling me that I had to put on some designer hospital shorts and that although they would love to have me at Chez Whistler Medical Clinic, I would instead have to go to Vancouver to get all fixed up... Funny nurse. Worked better on my son then me.)

Well, today is two days later. I had to wait a day for surgery because of other more serious accidents and then they put me under. Two plates, three screws/bolts to fix a broken ankle, a broken fibula and the fibula and tibia being torn apart at its base.

And here I am sitting on my couch.