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Home now and I am waiting for my family . . .

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My daughter Mabel and my wife Judy returned to Ottawa on a bus from London last night at 2 am after a synchro swim meet . The flowers are for Mabel who placed fourth in her figures competition out of more than 200 tier 2 competitors. Way to go Mabel!

Lorraine Gilbert and painted squares .. .

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A funny snap of my friend Lorraine Gilbert holding a couple of coloured canvas squares.

Edmonton coming and going

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As I flew into Edmonton I looked at the back of the seat in front of me and noticed I was moving at 600 miles an hour and I was almost 6 miles high. I felt like an astronaut. I remembered one of my favourite popular physics books, "The First three Minutes" by Steven Weinberg. At the end of the book he recalls flying home and looking out the window at the soft puffy clouds below and remarks that he sees the universe differently -  he knows that it is a violent and dangerous place. He says that  by studying physics he can see his role in the universe being raised from farce to comedy. I like that.

The artwork on the right is by Derek Besant, it is installed in  Edmonton international airport and it is a digital 360 degree panorama of an Albertan sky that is photographic on one end and heavily pixelated on the other. There are 14 panels and it was made in 2004. Public art installations that are permanent and photographic are becoming more common, but before the advent of digital printing methods they were quite rare.

Two more silly girls . . .

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Foolish Edmonton graduates . . .

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Graduates race from one end of the fountain pool to another in Civic Square. Cold.

More of Edmonton . . .

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A detail of the really massive and expensive brass coat of arms in the bank of Montreal seen through a window - just full of history.

Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement snaps . . .

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On the left is a schoolbus taking children home from the Caslan School. The bus is driven by a woman named Johnny who also teaches at Caslan. The little church is sort of a photographer's inside joke because it borrows from many images of "little country churches" by other photographers , but; that is pretty much the way it looks and even though the reference is amusing to me it does not mean I am making fun of the church. The church is the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church of Buffalo Lake Metis Setlement.

There was probably no joy in Mudville/Colinton tonight . . .

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On the left is the Colinton Hotel and tonight the Edmonton Oilers tangle with the Mighty Ducks. Inside the hotel the tension was building and the fans were excited. When I left the score was 3-0 for the damn ducks. Below is the Colinton arena across the street from the tavern as it appeared today.

Bad dogs and rhododendrons in Vancouver

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this neighboourhood is known for idiot dogs and rhodos.

Someone I know from a long time ago .. .

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This is Sandra Semchuk, an artist photographer I have been acquainted with for close to thirty years, I met her in the cafeteria at Emily Carr.  I went to see the grad show which was being dismantled when I arrived and asked at the desk if she was in .. .  and she was.