WhiteFeather in the FAA Casemate

Hey! If you've not been keeping' up on things, or think that summer [What a . . . !] is all about vacations in lalaland, think again. This week, until 5 pm Friday, the extraordinary WhiteFeather is in artist residency in the FAA casemate (in the gdn fl of the Soldr Brks bldg opposite the carafe college [ha!] on Queen St, F'top [wha' Tourism fred. labels the "historic garrison district". Her co-resident this week, 21-27 Julius 2007, is the great painter and more! Deanna Musgrave. They are both part of Studio4ward.

WhiteFeather is waxing journals, drilling teeth, acquiring bones (coyote, deer, seal, beaver, etc.), funerary flowers, and more, and recombining them. Deanna is painting to Germanic operatic renderings of great Chinese poems rich with feeling and fraught with contradiction.

                                                        words
                                                            in
                                        throw
                                                                the
                                                                          a i r
When are we next to                
                                                  to
                                watch
                them
                                        f
                                    a
                                  l
                                      l
                                             eerie
                              as
                                       fireworks

                                      ?

typewriter on the green is green

(NOTE: As part of Canada Day celebrations, a group of local artists Painted The Town Red ... well, that was the theme and the works they produced were awesome. Joe Blades spent the day with two of them, sitting on the grass with his typewriter ... yep, typewriter ... and wrote the following poem.)

underneath black paint i added
years ago in another town
manual not electric greenery
on the clover under leafed tree
shadow of canada flag over me
sun and wind and big clouds—
clouds trailing rain not reaching
all the way down to the ground

sterling creek pony rides nearby
trap kids holding parent's hands
walk a short circle inside rope corral
a large red on white sign advising
wash hands after contact with animals
—good idea not often practised
especially as there is a wash station
and so many dogs in holiday crowd

firebird and royal fireworks music
is the stravinsky or handel in the arcs
feathers and maple leaves first layer
on the gessoed sheet of plywood
today's harder canvas for the five
paint the town red commissioned artists
wind shear and rain in a blue wash
makes deanna start to like her painting

the elephant is hidden in dana's
fields of colour layered and layered
more hidden than the stag in blue
glade in third floor studio4ward
hidden as this morning's doe
briefly on gibson trail watching
me on bicycle roll closer to her
before she leaps into tree shadows

faraway bagpipes are playing
likely part of the marshalling
parade—two long lines of people
lining the curbs of half of pointe
sainte-anne drive parade route
for the about to begin green
harmonious with ever-changing
earth creating and recreating

korean drums and percussion
kiwanis bear costume huggers
the town’s largest gideon bible
on a wagon pulled by a horse
chinese dragon dances on road
the pipes and drums approach
deanna steps on her palette
a painted heel for her art

i am sprayed with fine splatter
not from heavy clouds overhead
orange drops off dana’s brush
on poem paper clothing and me
almost mushroom cloud shape
thunderheads on northside and
i’m asked if there are still
bouncy castles or pony rides

red wine in my water bottle
my typewriter not so quiet
on this red and white day
painting with words this town
my red road red word world
charlotte paints a big leaf
green and her older sister
adds small falling light green

more than child interaction
there's parents and audience
watching them and me create
with all that we have available
self portrait smiley cat face
in the otherwise so abstract
reality of coffee cans and
large frozen yogurt pails

paint and more surprise paint
charlotte and janice the able
assistants as a truly promising
raincloud drifts along the river
writing words with the magic
buttons immediate and right there
no erase function on typewriter
x-ed out the only true edit

truly busy crowd now happening
deanna's wish for children
to collaborate has happened
the grey clouds approach
this typer a bouncy thing
never before seen by some
—not an inflated castle
or another island for no

rain still hasn't happened
burnt-out artists in public
marilyn flat-out on grass
dana returns with coffees
bag of grapes by my hand
a love fredericton t-shirt-
wearing challenged younger sister
of someone sits here talking

her father setting off fireworks
from carleton park 10:45 tonight
was in the greened parade earlier
handing out sun-maid raisins
with one way jesus stickers
on every unsuspecting box
followed by police service dog
bear on i can follow the rules

je peux suivre les règles sticker
darth dust devils and lawnmower-
chewn 7 of spades playing card
element(s) wind water fire earth
and the pony wranglers haul out
as the music turns hard country
a little burnt sienna luminosity
meredith approaches across the grass

vocalist calls out "are there
any firefighters in the crowd today?"
answered with a few whoops
as paint splatters across art
water runs down the surface
layer upon layers whooped
and highlighted for the late
late arrival of biff the fanatic

the blacktop motorcycle gang is now 8

yes. 8. last night joe blades had eric and biff on his radio show "ashes, paper, and beans" and he was assimilated into the blacktop motorcycle gang. joe's the one who did the post card art posted earlier. he writes, photos, publishes, paints, broadcasts, films and lots of other cool stuff. here he is broadcasting ...

his name and links would be at the right of this posting, 'cept I can't seem to figure out how to modify the template. but this will be done and, in the meantime, welcome to the literary blood pack, joe.

When BTMGers Create ... the world shakes

It was a dark and stormless night when BTMG guy John said, "Ain't nothin' happenin'."

"'Cause we ain't makin' it happen," growled BTMG guy Old Skull.

"Remember that fuckhead's 21st Century balland, I Just Wanna Punch You In The Face?" barked John.

"Fuckin' A!" snarled Old Skull. "Let's create!"

And so the BlackTop MotorCyle Gangists created ...


And then they celebrated.

One Day on the Patio at Wilsers

So there I was, sitting on the patio at Wilsers on a sunny Saturday afternoon and suddenly I'm surrounded by a member of the BlackTop MotorCycle Gang. I work up the courage to say, "Nice day when it rains beer, eh?" And he immediate countered with a symbolic summary of the ontological proof for the non-existence of intelligence in the human race ...



Seconds later, he and his friend were attacked and devoured by a horde of angry amoebas who were hiding in their beer glasses.

A random Leafs fan made fun of the devourment. After much debate the amoebas devoured him as well.



I checked my glass for one cell threats and quietly finished my beer.

Reading Raids & Dandelion Wine

If we read from the landing overlooking the food court, security will have an excuse to evict us. If we get a table (maybe with an umbrella) and just stand up one at a time and read, they'll just have to listen. We may have to buy a coffee from Tim's.

And now for Biff's recipe for dandelion wine ...



Wait till the first dandelion blossoms. Second and third are OK, but with successive blossoms, the flowers become increasingly bitter and that bitterness is carried over to the wine, causing the imbiber to become irritable and prone to listening to old Marilyn Manson recordings. Body cutting and facial tattooing may also ensue.

Pick 4 quarts of flowers making sure to get as little of the stem as possible. (BTW, the leaves make a great salad, especially with Italian dressing.)

Add the 4 quarts of flowers to 4 quarts of water in an open container. (Note: Make sure the container is clean and free of Ebola, Lassa Fever and E.coli 0157:H7.) Let the mixture sit for 6 to 7 days. It’s going to smell like death warmed over twice, so put it someplace where it won’t offend guests and loved ones.



After 6 or 7 days, strain the fluid until it’s as clear and free of flower top materials as possible. Cheese cloth or panty hose make great straining materials. You may have to repeat this process two or three times. (Note: Again, make sure everything is clean.)

Now, you should have just under 4 quarts of smelly dandelion liquid. To this, add 4 pounds of honey. For stronger wine, use 2 pounds of honey and 2 pounds of sugar. The taste won’t be a lot different, but you may wake up in a ditch somewhere in Zeeland.

Now, add an ounce of brewer’s yeast. You can buy this at the Bulk Barn or Scoop ‘n Save. If you use anything other than brewer’s yeast, your wine will taste like shit.

Now, add three lemons sliced into quarters. They’ll float around on the top of the liquid.

Let this mixture sit uncovered for 6 or 7 days. It’ll fizz a lot and smell awful at first, but the smell will improve somewhat as the mixture ferments. Scum will form on the surface. Ignore it. Just let the whole thing sit and pop away.

After 6 or 7 days, strain the mixture again, repeatedly, until the mixture is thoroughly clear. It’ll have a golden tint.



Pour it into bottles, but don’t cork or screw the top on until the mixture stops working (i.e., fizzing up). As soon as the fizzing stops, cork or screw top the bottle and let it sit in a cool dark place for at least a month. Three or four months is best.

When you open it, do so over a sink. It may be very bubbly, like Champagne. Don’t worry if it’s not bubbly. Dandelion wine has this weird thing about making up its own mind about whether it will be bubbly or not from year-to-year. Drink with great caution.

Some facts about dandelions:

Dandelions are NOT weeds! They are wild vegetables.

According to the USDA, dandelions are more nutritious than broccoli and spinach.

In Pueblo, Colorado it is illegal to grow dandelions.

Dandelions are helpful medicinally: as a diuretic, to cut fats, to reduce gas, for kidney stones, cancer, diabetes, to cleanse the blood, for weight reduction, for vision, for your skin and acne, for bowel functions, to lower blood pressure and serum cholesterol, and for anemia.

Dandelions may be used in many recipes, for beverages, omelets, salads, juices, gelatins, quiche, soup, pasta dishes, breads, pizza, gravy, dips, spreads, pies, cookies, jelly’s, waffles, fritters, wind, pudding, and even ice cream!

All parts of the dandelion are useable. The leaves for greens, the blossoms for wines and jelly, and the roots for coffee.