Category: Arts and Culture


Good will

Alley at night

Alley at night (Photo credit: markhillary)

There is a painting at the Baillie House by the British Columbia Artist of the year in two thousand and eight Norman Kelly is a print 185 of 2000. The work is called River Crossing and features three horses and cowboys crossing a river.

That type of art is popular around here and artists like Arthur Mosely and others have a good constituency when it comes c0wboy to art.

The Kelly print is marked down to 50 dollars from a hundred and its being sold as yard sale donations that come regularly  to Baillie House; a registered charity.

Art is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes the estate holder.

There is a cowboy poet at the Public Library here on March 1st.

Today in history,February 9,1964

The Beattles go on the Ed Sullivan show to be seen by a record 73 million people.

Today in history

Free Education, a long time ago when the old now were young an education was a great privilege. In Canada in the sixties and seventies, the criteria for the federal police force was 11-11. Five foot eleven and grade eleven. That still put the members at an advantage over the norm of grade 6; not to many years earlier. At this writing I am at a community college and a public institution that has a first nation emphais.Those north american indians were promised that education and medical attention would be free to them centuries ago. Some of them took advantage of it and used it to be involved in the community as a whole. Indians like Len Marchand were effective Members of Parliament. And a single voice of an elected native in the Manitoba Legislature halted the ratification of a consitutional amendment the meech lake accord; several years and a lot of governments ago.

Today in the hallway of the college,  at writing are some posters of Fidel Castro and some of his revolutionaries, that had some similar aspirations.

There is lots of different ways of funding an education and the onus is on the person. From criminal injury compensation administered by medical practitioner’s, to retraining when the employment people can’t find a person suitable work for the age and experience of a seeker. Rewards in scholarship for various affinities are available and a student loan system that favors the deserving.  The military in particular in the United States has a history of supporting service people to re-education since the end of the Second World War.

The posters in this school come from a site called Trabajadores Sociales and has to do with spanish speaking people in the labour curve.

PS: Happy 60th to our gracious Queen.

Today in history, February 6,1989

The round table talks begin in Poland starting the overthrow of Communism.

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TGIF

Holocaust Memorial Berlin

Image via Wikipedia

 

 

 

 

Have a  weekend!

Today in history, January,27 1996

Germany first observes International Holocaust Day

Electronic check out

Today the Merritt public library started using their automatic check out machine. The librarian is busy coaching the patrons on the self activated system.Scan your card , check your account, scan out your books of films and your away.

A source says that they will have a posted instruction eventually.

Today in history, January 10, 1870

John D. Rockefeller incorporates standard oil

TGIF, THE GUARD

The Guard,the Nicola Valley Film society presents on Monday, January 16th,2012 ,7:30pm. at the NVIT Lecture Theater; The Guard rated 14 a .k comedy on rural police corruption.

It is also out locally at the retail outlet on DVD release January 3rd.
Free parking at NVIT.
 

I agreeTGIF

Today in history, January 6 1994

Nancy Kerrigan is clubbed on the knee at the US Figure skating championships in Detroit.

Falling rocks

Country road in the Yorkshire Dales

Image by freefotouk via Flickr

 A truck was parked at the Desert inn  in Merritt this AM and its side window was smashed out. The hotel owner reported that there had been a rock come down from off the bank  and go through the passengers widow. The truck minus its side widow is there as a testimony to its story. and we can confirm that in the past when freezing a thawing occurs on roads with high mountain or hilly dispositions rocks do fall ,and they have caused at least one fatality as a decapitation. Our advice is to be defensive especially when both lanes are full and there is little wiggle room. In some instances ducking beneath the dash ( passenger especially) may be the thing that will help. To do this effectively you need to can the sidehill for tracks and moving stones.

Today in History, December 22,1965

A 70 Kilometer speed limit is applied to all rural roads in the UK ,before there was none.

Liquor licence suspended

Liquor Licence:

The Coldwater hotel pub had its licence suspended for four days because of a minor being found in the premises back in September. A source says that the hotel took the sanction and not fight. The hotel will be reopening in four days from the Saturday night closing.

A source says that server’s in the hotels use take an online serving certificate course to serve alcohol to the public.

Today in History, December 19,1843

Charles Dickens Story: A Christmas Carol goes on sale.

NVIT

Monument to aboriginal war veterans in Confede...

Image via Wikipedia

The Nicola Valley Institute of Technology is in Merritt BC Canada and has a Campus in Burnaby BC as well . Its roots are in Merritt with a Grand Chief Gordon Antoine who had a vision to educate his people in a way that would keep their culture.

The school is for the  First Nation in Canada and has a policy of admiting others as well.

There is an element of North American Indian Culture in all the courses and it promotes the Thompson and Okanagan language. A confirmed source says that he took a 2 year college university transfer credit in biology, a 4.5 course from a PHD instructor and for a cultural investment of a day also had instruction from some native elders in traditional plant usage including making a pine needle baskets and string from Indian Hemp.

The perseverance of the founders came after the school had been located in store fronts at a distress rental time of the resource community of Merritt . Showing them self serious they eventually got a multi million dollar building that is able to expand to about twice its size .Small in the stature of many universities and colleges; the effort is unique to the way that natives can pursue education.  The institution can give credit’s up to an associate degree. It often has agreements to grant Bachelor of Social Work Workers from chartered universities and colleges such as TRU. Many graduates find work in their own aboriginal communities after completing their degrees. It is also culturally enriching to take Native studies and English courses that include another culture then your own. However the bulk of their student s come from the First Nations Community.

A source estimates that there are about 1200 students between the two campus’ and that most of them are Aboriginal. The source also says  that the new crime bill is a step backward for the aboriginal community that although having a about four percent of the national population they have a huge, out of proportion population in jails in Canada.

NVIT has a number of trades and technical courses offered from time to time. As well as law enforcement  pre seletion courses. The school encourages student democracy and civil harmony.

Accomidateing the local issues of first nations peoples in Canada.

http://www.nvit.ca/programsandcourses.htm?RD=1

 Today in History December 14th,1994

Construction begins on the Three gorges dam in China.

Today in History, December 14, 1903

The Wright brothers make first attempt to fly the Kitty Hawk.

BC Hydro, power and authority

Lots of no trespass signs about and some on old hydro meters. Dell from Coopers says they were by and changed his. Some people say they don”t want them because of health issues. Other say they wanted a choice for no wireless connection. The fact is they are being installed and adds in the papers are asking for clear access.

The hydro has worked since it was nationalized in BC as a  monopoly and  as socialism goes it was considered  draconian. However the lower rates we are supposed to get from the monopoly are supportive of the vision of Canada being a mixed economy. As a Non profit crown corporation it is not allowed to have retained earnings and must lower rates for efficiencies it gets. Still you have to watch that the government does not raid it for revenues like raising water licence fees, to accommodate good water levels for the utility.

The off-peak time dynamic will be the next issue us consumers will be watching as we still want it to be an under girding of our economy and not go to profits.

BC Hydro has the rights to all water in the province for generation purposes and a lot of power.  When good snow packs occur the next year should see rate reductions, as they have in the past.

The lines and poles are public property and that always raises an issue when they talk about co generation ; recently the utility has replaced a lot of poles and  is working to have a third 500 KV line to the lower mainland from the interior.

Today in history December 13 ,2003

Saddam Hussein is captured in Iraq. ( The Ace of Spades)

Nicola Valley Arts Council: The Nylons

Tonight at 7:30 there is a recital by an award winning group at the civic center .As of  this morning the placard is sporting a sold out sign. According to the Civic center manager that would mean 400 plus ticket holders for a $25.00 addmission concert. That is in our view good for a town of less then 8000 people. The Merritt Civic Center is a comfortable and neat clean facility and has very reasonable rates for non profits and youth activities.

The Nylons a foursome are gold and are on a concert tour. the photo that they have on their billing here in Merritt can be viewed on you tube at the link below.

They are said to do a good rendition of A Lion Sleeps Tonight.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7urtw9WaILY&feature=related

There have been twelve members of the acapella group and only one Claude Morrison is an orginal member, from the groups origins in Toronto in 1978.

Today in History, December 12,1982

Women’s peace protest at Greenham Common- 30,000 women  make human chain 14.5 KMs long

 

Persian rugs

On the weekend there was a auction of distressed goods at the local civic center. A viewing at 1 pm was followed by an auction a 2pm.Connoisseur Heirloom carpets were shown with pedigrees as to origin. One that I viewed was presented as from Kazakstan and the tribe you made it was related. The auctioneer said that antiques of that pedigree ( over 90 years ) go for 35 thousand dollars at auction houses in New York. A small 4X6 went for 500 dollars on Saturday and a large carpet was taken of the floor when it did not get a 25 hundred-dollar reserve bid. A number of small rugs were acquired by buyers at the beginning of the show.

The Auction was cut short and the were loaded into white vans to go to another community. The prices were advertised in a local paper  as bid plus 15 percent  buyers premium and HST a contact number in Vancouver was also advertised as 604-229-1800. The men were well dressed and professional with little fuss or stuff.

Today in history, December 6th,2008

Greek riots break out because of  the murder of a 15 year old boy by police.