In the early 1970s, Sixto Rodriguez was a Detroit folksinger who had a short-lived recording career.
Unknown to him, his musical story continued in South Africa where he became a pop music icon.
Long rumored there to be dead, two fans, record store owner Stephen Segerman and journalist Craig Bartholomew-Strydom, decided to seek out the truth of his fate.
Great story about the Central VPL (Vancouver Public Library) and the old chap.
Of course, you DO look like a librarian.
You’ve spent so much time in the library that it comes naturally.
I’m surprised more folks don’t question you.
It’s funny about Sylvie as well.
Yes, I guess she overheard us talking.
You’re right in that I at heart really DO like people and love to help out where I can.
It’s just part of my nature so not a difficulty.
We’re all different, and we all have different gifts, isn’t it true?
Such lovely weather these days, isn’t it great?
I went for a stroll around Lost Lagoon after supper and ended up on Cathedral Trail.
You must check it out.
Just over the Lost Lagoon bridge between the Lagoon and Second Beach, the park has constructed a lovely cedar boardwalk.
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It looks so new that it still SMELLS deliciously of cedar and the construction is solid and beautiful.
It is meant to protect the environment but delightful to stroll over.
You must do so whenever you’re in the area.
… hope you’re enjoying this weather.
Let me know if you get to see the new boardwalk, okay?
How’s it going with the love life?
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Ciao, Diane ~
Subj:
Yes, yes, yes… I’m going out!
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From: barclay1720@aol.com
to: diane@vancouver.ca
Thurs., June 20, 2013 3:55 P.M.
(Pacific Daylight Saving Time)
Hi Diane,
What a lovely and gorgeous day we have today.
Are you enjoying the sunshine?
I hope you ARE.
Probably, you’re jogging around the seawall.
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I’m at the Main Branch now.
I think I’ll go to see the new boardwalk this late afternoon once I’m done with my article.
Just before the library gets closed, I’ll get out and drop in at the IGA supermarket near the library to buy a bunch of bananas for my supper.
Then, I’ll walk to the Rose Garden in Stanley Park.
Probably I’ll reach the Garden by 6:30 p.m.
Then I’ll take a break and eat my bananas.
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If you’ve got free time this evening, I’d like to see you at the Rose Garden.
…hope this mail will reach you in time.
Your smiling Bohemian, Kato
with a lot of love
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Subj:
I miss the rendez-vous!
From: diane@vancouver.ca
to: barclay1720@aol.com
Sun., 2013 July 14 10:30 PM
(Pacific Daylight Saving Time)
Hi Kato,
I’ve just received your mail now, which is too late for me.
It is 10:30 p.m. on Sunday evening.
I certainly miss the rendez-vous on the boardwalk.
I’ve had a wonderfully exciting and varied weekend, though.
so I can’t complain.
…hope you got to see the new cedar boardwalk, kiddo.
Sleep tight.
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Luv, Diane ~
So, Diane, you were quite busy hopping around a number of parties over the last weekend, eh?
Well … what else can I do? You see, Kato, I at heart really DO like people and love to go out with people. Furthermore, I’d like to help out where I can.
So, Diane, you go to parties and help your friends have a lot of fun, eh?
Kato, you’re so sarcastic. I’m not particularly preoccupied with wild parties. To tell you the truth, I embodied a profoundly personal and deeply sincere commitment to my spiritual beliefs.
Oh …? You sound quite serious, eh?
I taught Sunday School and undertook duties to support my Anglican Church and tried to help others in whatever way I could.
I know … I know …
Do you really know that, Kato?
Well … at least I can see that you’re always willing and happy to help others in whatever way you could.
I’m glad to hear that. By the way, Kato, how did you enjoy the boardwalk?
Just before the closing time, I checked the news on the newly constructed boardwalk in the library.
Did you find any?
Yes, I did. I looked into the following CBC news clip.
Check out Stanley Park’s first boardwalk
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I was quite excited because the boardwalk reminded me of Oze Marshland in Japan.
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Oze Marshland in Nikko
Wow! What a beautiful view! Have you been over there, Kato?
Yes, of course, I have. That’s the reason I got so excited about the new boardwalk in Stanley Park. Suddenly, the old memory about the trip to Oze Marshland came into my mind.
So, naturally, you imagined the same kind of scenery, didn’t you?
Yes, I did. I thought that it would be quite romantic if I strolled with you on the boardwalk in Oze Marshland. Anyway, I went to the rose garden in Stanley Park.
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I walked from West End Community Center along the green route to the Rose Garden.
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Rose Garden at Stanley Park
So, while you were waiting for me, you ate a bunch of bananas like a chimpanzee, didn’t you?
Yes, that’s right. Greatly expecting a romantic rendez-vous, I enjoyed eating my banana supper like a starry-eyed amorous chimp.
I’m really sorry, Kato. If I’d known it well in advance, I could’ve probably managed to meet you over there.
Anyway, I waited for an extra hour or so, but you didn’t show up. That was the first letdown.
Oh …? What was the second letdown?
Well … I went over to the stone bridge, then to the new boardwalk. Oh, yes… as you wrote, it still smelled deliciously of cedar. The boardwalk was stoutly built. I was expecting some romantic white flowers.
Lysichiton
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It is a genus in the family Araceae.
These plants are known commonly as skunk cabbage or less often as swamp lantern.
The spelling Lysichitum is also found.
The genus has two species, one found in north-east Asia, the other in north-west America.
Lysichiton has flowers which are typical of those of the family to which it belongs (the arum family or Araceae).
The individual flowers are small and are tightly packed on a fleshy stem called a spadix which is surrounded by a white or yellow but otherwise leaf-like bract called a spathe.
The spathe is hooded or boat-shaped at the top.
Lysichiton has flowers with both male and female parts present (bisexual), unlike many other aroids.
After fertilization, the green fruits become embedded in the spadix; each fruit usually has two seeds but may have up to four.
Several large leaves appear either just before flowering or soon afterwards; each has a short stalk (petiole).
Plants die down to a vertical rhizome in winter.
SOURCE: “Lysichiton”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
To my disappointment, I couldn’t find any flowers of lysichiton as I walked along the boradwalk. This was my second letdown. Then came the third letdown.
What was it?
To my sad surprise, the boardwalk ended after I walked for about five minutes.
Yes, yes, yes… the boardwalk is a rather short path. So, Kato, you were quite disappointed, weren’t you?
Yes, that’s true. I was not satisfied with the short boardwalk, but at least it reminded me of my nostalgic memory and melody.
I can see your nostalgic memory about the trip to Oze Marshland, but what is your nostalgic melody?
Listen to this:
Oze Marshland with Music
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Did you hear a lovely melody?
Yes, I did. It’s nice and sweet, isn’t it? What is it about?
Here are lyrics for you.
Summer Memories
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I recall as summer comes
Oze Marshland in the far away
Floating in the mist
Gentle silhouette along the boardwalk
Flowers of lysichiton in bloom
Dreaming by the water
Like rhododendron in the twilight
Oh, Oze Marshland in the far away
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I recall as summer comes
My trip in Oze Marshland
Among white flowers
Floating islands
Sweet sweet flowers of lysichiton
Dreaming in full bloom by the water
Nostalgic Oze in my eyes
Oh, Oze Marshland in the far away
Oh, Kato, I wish I could stroll with you on the boardwalk in Oze Marshland
Yes, yes, yes … some day, some day …
【Himiko’s Monologue】
What beautiful flowers they are!
I like “mizu-bashō” or flowers of lysichiton.
In English, it is usually called “White Skunk Cabbage.”
I hate this English name!
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I just don’t understand how come any man could come up with “Skunk” to call this beautiful flower.
As you know, a skunk produces the most disgusting and obnoxious fart.
In any case, I hope Kato will write another interesting article soon.
So please come back to see me.
Oze Marshland (尾瀬ヶ原) is a high altitude marshland in the Oze National Park, Japan.
Approximately 8km² in size, the marshland is well known for the various species of plants, including the “mizu-bashō” (White Skunk Cabbage), “Nikkō-kisuge” (yellow alpine lilies) and “Watasuge” (Eriophorum vaginatum).
The marshland is a popular hiking destination.
When you visit Japan, please drop in at Oze Marshland.
「マカロニ・ウェスタン」は淀川長治による造語で、この用語は外国では通用しないとも言われるが、イギリスの映画評論家であるクリストファー・フレイリングが2006年に出した著書『Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys And Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone』によれば、実際には本国イタリアでもマカロニ・ウェスタンと呼ばれているという。
『続・夕陽のガンマン』（The Good, the Bad and the Ugly、原題の意味は「善玉、悪玉、卑劣漢」）は1966年の叙事詩的マカロニ・ウェスタンである。
ユナイテッド・アーティスツ提供。監督はセルジオ・レオーネ。クリント・イーストウッド、リー・ヴァン・クリーフ、イーライ・ウォラックがそれぞれ原題の善玉、悪玉、卑劣漢を演じている。
かつて日本で初めて劇場公開されたときには、『続・夕陽のガンマン/地獄の決斗』の題名だったが、ビデオが発売されたときに『続・夕陽のガンマン』に改められた。
また、1967年公開のマカロニ・ウェスタンに『新・夕陽のガンマン/復讐の旅』（原題：Da uomo a uomo）という作品があるが、本作及び『夕陽のガンマン』とは一切関係ない作品である。
なお『続・夕陽のガンマン』という邦題ではあるが作品の中に夕陽が出てくる場面は1度もない。
原題の Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo を直訳すると「善玉、卑劣漢、悪玉」であるが、英題（The Good, the Bad and the Ugly）では順番が変わって「善玉、悪玉、卑劣漢」となっている。
He is widely considered to be the foremost Japanese novelist of the Meiji period (1868–1912).
He is best known for his novels such as “Kokoro,” “Botchan,” “I Am a Cat” and his unfinished work “Light and Darkness.”
He was also a scholar of British literature and composer of haiku, kanshi, and fairy tales.
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From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000-yen note.
In Japan, he is often considered the greatest writer in modern Japanese history.
He has had a profound effect on almost all important Japanese writers since.
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In 1900, the Japanese government sent Sōseki to study in Great Britain as “Japan’s first Japanese English literary scholar”.
He visited Cambridge and stayed a night there, but gave up the idea of studying at the university because he could not afford it on his government scholarship.
He studied instead at University College, London (UCL).
He had a miserable time of it in London, spending most of his days indoors buried in books, and his friends feared that he might be losing his mind.
He also visited Pitlochry in Scotland.
He lived in four different lodgings, only the last of which, lodging with Priscilla and her sister Elizabeth Leale in Clapham, proved satisfactory.
Five years later, in his preface to “Bungakuron (The Criticism of Literature),” he wrote about the period:
The two years I spent in London were the most unpleasant years in my life.
Among English gentlemen I lived in misery, like a poor dog that had strayed among a pack of wolves.
He got along well with the one Leale sister, who shared his love of literature (notably Shakespeare) and spoke fluent French, much to his admiration.
The Leales were a Channel Island family, and Priscilla had been born in France.
The sisters worried about Natsume’s incipient paranoia and successfully urged him to get out more and take up cycling.
Despite his poverty, loneliness, and mental problems, he solidified his knowledge of English literature during this period and returned to Japan in 1903.
After his return to the Empire of Japan, he replaced Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) at the First Higher School, and subsequently became a professor of English literature at Tokyo Imperial University, where he taught literary theory and literary criticism.
SOURCE: “Natsume Sōseki”
From the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kato, I’ve never heard of Natsume Sōseki, nor his works.
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I know… Most Canadians don’t know his name.
Is he well-known in Japan?
Yes, he is. If a person doesn’t know his name in Japan, he or she is not a Japanese.
Are you sure about that?
I’m absolutely sure of that. You can bet on that. From 1984 until 2004, his portrait appeared on the front of the Japanese 1000-yen note. So almost all the Japanese know his name and his face.
Can you find his books in the library?
Yes, of course, you can. Why don’t you borrow one of the following books at Vancouver Public Library?
So there are 31 books written by Natsume Sōseki, aren’t there?
Yes, you can read the translated version such as Kokoro, Sanshirō, and Kusamakura.
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Which one do you recommend, kiddo?
I recommend “Kusamakura (草枕).”
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Why is that?
…’Cause this book was Glenn Gould’s most favorite book. When he died on October 4, 1982 at the age of 50, there were two books at his bedside: the Bible and “Kusamakura.”
Did he read the book in Japanese.
No, he didn’t. He read the translated version.
What does the title mean?
Literally, “Kusamakura (草枕)” means “grass pillow”, which implies “camping in the wild.”
How did he find the book?
Well …, at the age of 35, Glenn Gould traveled to the eastern part of Nova Scotia, and met Professor William Foley in the train. In the course of conversation, the professor told him about the book ‘cause he was greatly moved while reading it.
So, Glenn Gould bought the book, didn’t he?
Yes, he did, and loved it so much so that he actually read the whole book on the phone to his sister.
No kidding!
This is a true story—one of his eccentricities.
Glenn Gould
(25 September 1932 – 4 October 1982)
He was a Canadian pianist who became one of the best-known and most celebrated classical pianists of the 20th century.
He was particularly renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
His playing was distinguished by remarkable technical proficiency and capacity to articulate the polyphonic texture of Bach’s music.
Gould rejected most of the standard Romantic piano literature and, after his adolescence, avoided Liszt, Schumann, and Chopin.
Although his recordings were dominated by Bach, Gould’s repertoire was diverse, including works by Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Brahms, pre-Baroque composers such as Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, and such 20th-century composers as Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg and Richard Strauss.
Gould was well known for various eccentricities, from his unorthodox musical interpretations and mannerisms at the keyboard to aspects of his lifestyle and personal behavior.
Rare strange footage
He stopped giving concerts at the age of 31 to concentrate on studio recording and other projects.
Gould was also known as a writer, composer, conductor, and broadcaster.
He was a prolific contributor to musical journals, in which he discussed music theory and outlined his musical philosophy.
His career as a composer was less distinguished.
His output was minimal and many projects were left unfinished.
There is evidence that, had he lived beyond 50, he intended to abandon the piano and devote the remainder of his career to conducting and other projects.
As a broadcaster, Gould was prolific.
His output ranged from television and radio broadcasts of studio performances to musique concrète radio documentaries about life in the Canadian wilderness.
You see, Diane … if Glenn Gold lived beyond 50, he intended to abandon the piano and devote the remainder of his career to conducting and other projects.
…like what?
He might have produced documentaries about life in the Canadian wilderness ‘cause he loved “Kusamakura” from the bottom of his heart.
What makes you think so, Kato?
Actually, Glenn Gould made numerous television and radio programs for CBC Television and CBC Radio such as his music-concrète “Solitude Trilogy,” which consists of “The Idea of North”—a meditation on Northern Canada and its people, “The Latecomers” about Newfoundland, and “The Quiet in the Land” about Mennonites in Manitoba. All three use a radiophonic electronic-music technique that Gould called contrapuntal radio, in which several people are heard speaking at once–—much like the voices in a fugue—–manipulated through the use of tape.
So, Kato, you’re saying, Glenn Gould was really influenced by the book written by Natsume Sōseki.
Yes, I am.
But how come you’re telling me his story?
…cause you love music as well as wilderness in the North. You enjoyed life in Faro—a town in Canadian North, didn’t you?
Oh yes, I did.
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Subj:Summer is here
with us!
Enjoy the sunshine!
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From: diane03760@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Tue, Jul 26, 2011 4:35 pm.
Pacific Daylight Saving Time
I’ve read the above article.
Your article is excellent as usual.
I did remember that you lived in Yellowknife some years ago.
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Many years ago, I too lived for six months or so in the north, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.
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Actually, I worked for a mining company in a small town called Faro (Anvil Mines at the time) as secretary to the President.
I was given my own apartment (most of the staff had to live in bunk houses) and a huge salary compared with what I would receive in Vancouver.
So I was thrilled about that.
I didn’t want to feel totally isolated, though, so I asked whether I could eat with the others in the cookhouse and they obliged.
Thank God.
It was fun and much easier than doing my own cooking and making do with the limited selection in the local store.
The cook took a special liking to me and every day he would give me extra rations of cookies and cakes.
Pretty soon I realized that if I took advantage of these favors I would end up being a roly-poly.
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so I would take them and then give them away.
Lotsa fun.
I do remember a really cute Japanese gal who worked up there telling me she had already gained 25 lbs in one year, and it showed.
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It was all the lesson I needed, thankfully.
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Le Crueset cookware is definitely famous.
A friend of mine in Kerrisdale has some and he said they’re very, very expensive but worth every penny.
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He has one pot that he uses almost daily and has for years and it has proved to be the best pot he’s every cooked with and worked with—sturdy, reliable, easy to work with.
So I guess it’s worth the big bucks, true?!
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Vancouver is pretty good, but not paradise I’d say.
The weather’s too crummy half the time, or more than half the time actually, Which is why my brother left Canada for France.
He could no longer stand the cold weather.
Certainly, I do miss him.
As a matter of fact, I’ve found an interesting joke:
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You see, Kato, we don’t have many sunny days in Vancouver!
Anyway, I enjoyed reading your article.
Thanks again for all this.
Glenn Gould was widely known for his unusual habits.
He usually hummed while he played the piano, and his recording engineers had mixed results in how successfully they were able to exclude his voice from recordings.
Gould claimed that his singing was subconscious and increased proportionately with the inability of the piano in question to realize the music as he intended.
It is likely that this habit originated in Gould’s having been taught by his mother to “sing everything that he played.”
This became his unbreakable and notorious habit.
Some of Gould’s recordings were severely criticized because of the background “vocalise”.
Many listeners would find the groans and croons intolerable.
Glenn Gould: A Portrait (1985)
Gould was renowned for his peculiar body movements while playing and for his insistence on absolute control over every aspect of his playing environment.
The temperature of the recording studio had to be exactly regulated.
He invariably insisted that it be extremely warm.
The air conditioning engineer had to work just as hard as the recording engineers.
The piano had to be set at a certain height and would be raised on wooden blocks if necessary.
A small rug would sometimes be required for his feet underneath the piano.
He had to sit fourteen inches above the floor and would play concerts only while sitting on the old chair his father had made.
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He continued to use this chair even when the seat was completely worn through.
His chair is so closely identified with him that it is shown in a place of honor in a glass case at the National Library of Canada.
Denman Blog2 