Listen to the latest episode of The Agency Podcast right here or find it at all the good podcast places.
Why do we love SUCCESSION? The writers behind “Telladega Nights” and “Anchorman” produced the addictive series SUCCESSION and we can’t stop watching. The writing is so mischievous it’s easy to forget it’s satire when everything seems so serious.
Eugene and Candy welcome Special Agent Sarah to the episode to talk about everything they have enjoyed about the series.
We hope you enjoy this discussion. Have we got it wrong? Email us and give us what for. We might read your email on a future episode.
Last time I wrote about the Toronto Mayoralty bi-election there were something like 80 candidates in the race. It finally leveled off at 102, a number which may or may not include a canine candidate. With just over two weeks left before the election, I still haven’t decided who to vote for.
The polls have Olivia Chow leading by a significant margin. She will likely land most of the progressive vote, being long associated with the NDP. She is a popular figure, and she has lots of experience as both a City Councillor and as an MP. She has also run for Mayor in the past. I don’t remember her as a stand-out performer in her previous elected roles but I don’t remember her as being a poor performer either. During her campaign I have heard very few specifics from her, which is worrisome. Former police chief and now candidate for the Mayor’s job Mark Saunders has come out and declared that Olivia Chow must be stopped and he thinks he’s the man to do it. I guess we’ll see some leader-bashing through the remainder of the campaign.
Several candidates have polled in a clump well below Olivia Chow, but in the most recent polls, it seems that Ana Bailão has been creeping ahead of the pack, and though well back, she could have a chance to win the job. I believe she was John Tory’s deputy Mayor for some time.
I watched one of the debates. I thought Mitzie Hunter came off as being knowledgeable and professional and willing to talk specifics. Josh Matlow came up with the idea of the City gifting Ontario Place to the Federal Government for a park, to keep it out of the clutches of the Premier. I don’t think the dog was invited to any of the debates.
I don’t know. I guess there are a handful of candidates who could do an acceptable job as Mayor, but really none of this bunch have really impressed me. I will vote in this election for sure, but so far, I haven’t made up my mind – and we’re running out of time.
The Agents have a fascinating conversation with film-maker Yujiro Seki about his documentary “Carving The Divine.” Yujiro tells us about behind-the-scenes personal directive to make a unique movie.
The documentary offers a rare look into a 1400-year-old Buddhist tradition and the practitioners struggling to preserve a legacy in a rapidly changing Japan. Yujiro has made a film that would make Werner Herzog proud in it’s ability to contrast the woodcarvers passion for craft up against dominant contemporary culture . Viewers can begin to ask “What is technology? What do I want from my images and objects? Do we value humanity and it’s handiwork?
We hope you enjoy this conversation and please follow the link to watch the documentary…a must see for anyone who enjoys aesthetics, works with their hands or values dedication and fine work. Plus these folks are great and compelling to watch!
“Give us adequate images. We, we lack adequate images, our civilization doesn’t have adequate images. And I think our civilization is doomed, is gonna die out like dinosaurs if it does not develop an adequate language or adequate images.” Werner Herzog
Timothy Kelley & Abby the Spoon Lady. This is from The Spoon Lady’s YouTube channel. Please be sure to visit, like and subscribe. Support your local spoons player! The fab Fiddle on this is Timothy Kelley.
On Monday morning, I packed up my camping gear, leaving enough room in my little Honda Fit for Bonnie to come along, and headed to MacGregor Point Provincial Park, near Port Elgin for a couple days of R&R.
Pitcher Plant Marl at MacGregor PointPitcher Plant Marl at MacGregor Point
There is a look-out a short walk from my campsite where you can see a Pitcher Plant Marl – a wetland hosting the only species of Pitcher Plant in Canada. Pitcher Plants are carnivorous. From Wikipedia: Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants that have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be “true” pitcher plants are formed by specialized leaves.
Aside from the opportunity to see carnivorous plants, this is a really beautiful spot, especially as the sun goes down.
A ten minute walk from camp took us to the dog beach. This is a beautiful beach, sand with a few spits of boulders which kind of divide the beach into sections. Bonnie loved the dog beach.
MacGregor Point is a beautiful park, with a beach for humans as well as a dog beach on each side of the park. There are plenty of trails in the park. The campsites are pretty big, fairly private and quite lovely. The washroom closest to the campsite was a vault toilet with a sink. It was about the cleanest campground bathroom I’ve ever seen. They do a great job of maintenance at this park.
MacGregor Point Park is about a 3 hour drive from Toronto, mostly through farm country. I drove there on the Monday of our Victoria Day weekend and the only traffic was going the other way. I had a few neighbours on Monday night but on Tuesday night there were a lot fewer campers around.
I was not sure how Bonnie would react to camping. She came to us with many fears, and I’ve been trying to expose her to lots of different environments to help her through them. She has been doing very well that way. At the campsite she seemed a bit nervous around camp, where at the dog beach she was very relaxed and obviously happy. It turned out Bonnie liked the tent. She was happy to get in there with me and she quickly claimed part of my air mattress and snuggled up beside me.
This morning, I awoke at dawn. There was a very strong wind, a wind which was particularly loud. Rain had been called for but it had not happened yet. I had planned to stay for the morning, but decided that if I hurried to break down my tent and pack up the car, I had a decent chance of accomplishing that before the rain started. There was some drizzle as we left the park. I don’t know if the storm I felt coming on actually happened but since I dislike packing away soggy equipment, I was happy to leave a bit early.
Since it’s World Fiddle Day, here’s a great little film I came across on YouTube called Arm of Gold, about Lee Cremo’s trip to compete in the World Fiddle Championships in Nashville.
I came across this wonderful little film about Newfoundland fiddle great Rufus Guinchard on the NFLD Archive YouTube channel. I don’t know too much about Newfoundland fiddle music (yet). I have long associated Newfoundland with button accordions.
Let me tell you a story. A number of years ago, back when I was playing a lot of button accordion, I found myself in Halifax for an art exhibition and talk. While there I wanted to play some music but I didn’t bring an accordion along. I discovered there was a big music store in Halifax so I stopped in for a visit. I saw rows of fiddles and guitars and more fiddles and mandolins but no button accordions. I thought, they must have the accordions in a separate room. When an employee came along, I asked where the button accordions were. The fellow looked at me and without missing a beat said, “What do ya think this is, St John’s?”
Rufus Guinchard was quite a fabulous fiddler. He held his fiddle in a most unusual way, on the right side of his neck. I tried to position my own fiddle the same way he did but I found it to be very difficult and I quickly gave up. Enjoy the film.
Blackberry (the movie) House Musical AI Follies New Zines My 3-year old could do better than that Tehran (the tv show) Loudermilk Toronto Mayor’s Race Gordon Lightfoot RIP ….and more
Listen right here or find the episode at the usual podcast hotspots
We tried to record an episode of The Agency last week and ran into some technical trouble. It isn’t clear if it was an internet issue, or maybe a Zoom issue or maybe a system resource issue on one of our computers. We’re trying to figure it out, and hopefully we’ll be able to record an episode very soon. Sorry for the technical problem.
There were numerous musical soundtracks to my childhood but Gordon Lightfoot definitely provided one of them. I looked a list of his many, many songs and realized I can hum a lot more than I ever realized. RIP
27th Street 