Yesterday was the shortest day of the year. The intense celebrations in various traditions can be overwhelming, and in the case of Christmas, there is that massive commercial machine to cope with. I recognize that for lots of people this is a very difficult and lonely time, and while some feast, others are just trying to get through.
This is a simple shout-out to visitors to this blog who struggle during the winter celebrations. I just want to send out a little love and a big virtual hug – I hope you can find a little comfort and some reasons to laugh over the next week or so.
Here’s David Bromberg, performing I’ll Rise Again…
The third and last game of go (baduk) between Lee Sedol and the Korean bot, Handol ended with Lee Sedol’s resignation. It was a beautiful game. Once again I’ll defer to the excellent commentary done by Go Pro Yeonwoo.
Wishing Lee Sedol fulfilling adventures in his retirement from the game.
A few people have asked us if The Agency Podcast is available on Spotify. It hasn’t been but since people have requested it, I made that connection through our host, Podbean. The Agency should start appearing on Spotify sometime today. I suspect it may take a day or so to become searchable, but I’m not 100% sure of that. The Agency is now available on Podbean, iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Google Play, TuneIn and Spotify.
We really appreciate our listeners, and enjoy hearing your comments and ideas related to our podcasts. A few regular listeners have told us that they occasionally shout back at us during the podcast, especially if they think we’re wrong about something!
As of this writing, The Agency podcasts have been downloaded 959 times. We’re hoping to achieve the 1,000 download milestone by the end of 2019, and since we’ll be publishing once or twice more this year, it should be possible. You can help by telling your friends. If any of our social media friends would consider giving The Agency a shout-out in your feeds, the link to our podcast homepage is: https://agencypodcast.podbean.com/.
We still have some extra-cool The Agency camo trucker’s caps available. If you’d like one, send us an email with your thoughts about the podcast, and don’t forget to include your mailing address. Available while supplies last only!
I continue to be fascinated with the various birds coming to the feeders. The regulars include at least 3 pair of cardinals, a huge gang of house sparrows, mourning doves, house finches, nuthatches, and chickadees.
The second game of Lee Sedol’s retirement go (baduk) match against the Korean AI known as Handol, was an even game with 7.5 points komi. This was a tough game for the human player and Handol won by resignation. Once again, Go Pro Yeonwoo did an excellent brief analysis of the game. If you’re interested in seeing what happened, I recommend you check it out here. The third game of the match will take place Saturday. Can Lee Sedol beat the bot again? We’ll have to wait and see.
I hopped into Hobie’s magic bus and we barrelled down the QEW toward Hamilton and a visit to the Art Gallery of Hamilton. There are a couple exhibitions that interest me up right now. One is This is Serious: Canadian Indie Comics and the other is Reinhard Reitzenstein’s residency at the gallery.
We started downstairs at the comic show. This exhibition is big and national in scope. There was an overwhelming amount of high quality work on display. I found it difficult at times to focus on reading individual comics in the exhibition context, but I was able to get a taste of what each of these artists were up to. I purchased a catalog while I was there so I can have a closer look at some of the works in the exhibition and have a reference point for seeking out more of their work later.
Upstairs, it was great to see that Reinhard was in the gallery. Sheila and I know Reinhard, but it’s been quite a few years since we’ve seen him. Where do the years go? Reinhard took us through the exhibition. I really enjoyed talking to him about the work in the show but also catching up, chatting about all sorts of things. Before we left, another fellow I knew from way back came into the gallery. I know Ihor from a summer I worked at the Harbourfront Art Gallery in the early 80s, before it became the Power Plant. It was good to see both these guys.
Hobie had a lunch spot in mind for somewhat upscale burgers and fries. I gave the waiter business card for The Agency Podcast, and learned he is a musician. He jotted down some coordinates to a place I could hear his music. I’m looking forward to checking it out.
This evening, Sheila and I went to the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts – we had tickets to see Maceo Parker and his fabulous band. Maceo came with a really tight band – drums, keyboards, guitar, bass, trombone, a back-up singer, and Maceo on sax and later in the show, some flute and keyboards as well.
The last time we saw Maceo Parker live, he was touring with Prince and it was a big arena show. It was great to see him in the Oakville Centre’s more intimate setting.
27th Street 