Last Tuesday night, Shauna and I headed into "Dee’s Bistro" in Burk’s Falls to attend the last of the Tree Ring Tuesday songwriter showcases for this summer. Sean Cotton, the organizer of these events, accompanied fellow songwriters Pam Millar and my friend Douglas McLean. Lewis Hodgson and I were called up from the audience to play a few of our songs, which was good fun. There was a good turnout, the audience seemed to enjoy the music, there was humorous banter, and there was a high energy about the night that I think everybody felt. I spoke last week of music’s healing qualities, both for the listeners and the performers, and currently, our little town needs to heal. Last week, a little boy drowned while playing on the banks of the swollen Magnetawan River near the Burk’s Falls dam. This kind of tragedy affects almost everyone in a small community. Some members of the town came out to Dee’s to distract themselves from the inexplicable sadness of this death, and I think Sean and Pam, both residents of Burk’s Falls, did a great job lifting their spirits.
Speaking of Sean Cotton, as I began writing this report last Wednesday, I was listening to him on the radio talking about his recent appointment as the new host of the Hunter’s Bay Radio’s Talent on the Bay show. Congratulations Sean, you’ll be great in that role. This coming Wednesday, some of the local songwriters, including me, will join Sean on the show from 11AM –12PM to talk about our experiences performing this summer, and to play a few tunes. I’m looking forward to that show. Tune in to 88.7 FM Radio or, if you are not local, hear it on the internet if you get the chance: http://www.muskokaonline.com/Start/tabid/55/Default.aspx
When I complain and rant about something as mundane as similar packaging of food products, I am not completely oblivious to the irony of such complaints, especially given the current events unfolding in the global arena. An outbreak of the Ebola virus in five African countries (so far) is anything but contained. This raises the complicated ethical issue of equality and treatment. While thousands have died from this outbreak so far, if a vaccine is produced (several are showing promise in fast track studies), it will likely be available to the privileged few before the Third World poor are saved. ISIS, the latest high profile Islamic fundamentalist threat in Iraq and elsewhere, is now targeting Western journalists. It is a strange world we live in where one can type a few words in a Google search and view a YouTube video of a journalist being beheaded. The other disturbing newsmaker is Russia’s continuing and unchecked mission to annex the Ukraine. Putin shrugs off the bad press and maintains that the aggression comes from patriotic pro-Russian rebels who are not under his command, but NATO is not buying it; neither is the world. Certainly border countries like Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldavia must be a bit nervous. I do not delude myself into thinking that Russia is alone in her lust for natural resources and real estate, any more than I believe the U.S. was simply on a humanitarian mission to “free” Iraq from the dictator we had supported. Finally, there seems to be no end to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and now the Syrians are once again getting into the fight. Millions of Syrians have been displaced by the civil war raging in that country and the U.S. is showing little inclination to intervene. I know, I know, it’s complicated.
I can’t even figure out packaging labels in the supermarket.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2014 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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