Uh...

I'm absurdly flummoxed.


[Insert glib comment here.]

(Source)

Goodbye Oliver...I barely knew you!

I just got an email today from Metro's sister...linking me to an article in the Toronto Star about the sudden death of Oliver Schroer -- Canadian composer and violinist.

I first experienced his music on an Easter Sunday CBC special called "Churchgoing" (no where near as religious as it sounded...included readings and a Monty Python sketch!). Metro and I were driving and suddenly this song came on:




Schroer had actually done the Camino de Santiago through France and Spain:

He had just released his CD, Camino, to critical and audience raves. Camino was recorded over two months in 2004 as he and two friends walked the Camino de Santiago, an ancient trail that wanders across France and Spain. Schroer stopped in churches along the way to play his violin.

(Hmm...the Camino is a pilgrimage, not merely a trail. Silly newspaper!)

The music recorded along the way, with rudimentary equipment that he and his friends carried for 1,000 kilometers, was soaring -- violin pieces played in old cathedrals along the way. It appealed to me also as an architecture buff, as you can almost hear the expanse of vaulted ceilings in this music. I immediately went out and bought the CD, and it is now one of my favourites, that I force friends to listen to all the time.

But in the end, succumbing to leukemia at 52, it will be his attitude that stands out:

His acceptance of his imminent death comes from how he has lived.

"As an artist, I found my own unique voice and have been able to publicly express that voice. I've gotten to collaborate with different wonderful musicians. What more does an artist want?

"I'm one of the burning-bright guys who fire it all up and then go down in flames."

May we all have this acceptance when our time comes.

Lori

"My Sweet Lord!"

From this news report:

The Easter season unveiling of an anatomically correct chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ, dubbed “My Sweet Lord” by its creator, has infuriated Catholics preparing to observe some of their holiest days of the year.

The 6-foot sculpture by Cosimo Cavallaro was to debut Monday evening, four days before Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday. The final day of the exhibit at the Lab Gallery inside Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel was planned for Easter Sunday.

“This is one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever,” said Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League, a watchdog group. “It’s not just the ugliness of the portrayal, but the timing — to choose Holy Week is astounding.”

Go and take a look at the picture -- it's quite remarkable, and completely un-tasty looking (I'm probably thankful for that).

I got this from my online community, BookTalk.org, where the woman who posted it pointed out:

"I can understand Christian groups being hostile towards this sculpture. There's lots of "art" to which I am hostile. However, the statement that there is an additional problem with the choice of Holy Week to display the sculpture reeks of the privileging of religion. Do Christians own the week between their Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday? A week that changes on the calendar from year to year."

Very good point.

Lori

UPDATE: The gallery caved -- before it even opened its doors, it has canceled the exhibit. Did they not think? Did they blithely assume there would be no uproar? (Here is the discussion at BookTalk.org)