April 2003 Archives

I had the good fortune of seeing "The One Man Star Wars Trilogy" this week, performed by Charles Ross, a fellow grad of the University of Victoria. Beginning in Victoria this week, he's touring his show at Canadian fringe festivals this summer. (He debut performance was at last year's Toronto Fringe Festival.)

Amazingly, in the span of an hour, Charles recreates key moments of "Star Wars," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" without a single prop. He plays all the characters, performs John Williams' score, makes the sound effects, and acts out stunts and effects sequences. It's both bewildering and hilarious - especially Jabba the Hutt! How any hardcore Star Wars fan could have the stamina to do more than one such performance a year is beyond me...

Here are his upcoming performances.

Heard back from the Seattle Review, which wasn't interested in my poem inspired by my trip to the city. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Here's a poem I had published in the Fall 2001 issue of Chaos, inspired by a summer 2001 trip to Toronto:

DOWNTOWN

From apartment security smartly step
Onto cracked concrete carpet.
Daunting skyscraper canopy diffuses
Smog wafts, waves of humid heat.
Off my shades city's riff-raff reflect
Like a swirl of summer glare.

Bistro, cafe, deli, boutiques, antiques...
To disappear among Yonge's marching masses:
Yuppies, homies, models, tourists, purists,
Each focused on his, her, its destination,
Oblivious to my curious glance, grin
Overseen only by Toronto's towering bearing.

Arrived home Sunday after a week at sea. Experienced some rough swells (for me at least) - sea state 3. Took a few days for my stomach to settle. Work in my department was pretty hectic and crazy, too. With the ship lurching to and fro, watching "The Abyss" one evening was an interactive experience!

One highlight of the trip was a light line transfer with the Vancouver, during which a pod of porpoises paid a visit. They played at the bows of and between the ships.

Looks like I may have to wait till October for the navy training course in Quebec City. So the summer job search begins...

Have now heard back from the Malahat Review, Fiddlehead, Antigonish Review, Arc and PRISM, who all turned down my poetry submissions. No matter: I didn't expect to move up to the major leagues overnight. Haven't heard back from the Seattle Review yet, which is a good thing, I suppose. *grin*

So I'll debut one of my submissions here, inspired by Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. "Pilkington" refers to my childhood home on Pilkington Cres. in Whitby, Ontario.

PILKINGTON

Laughing till it hurt,
Sprinting round the house,
Hopping the fence and
Tumbling with a thud,
We put up a chase
In the mild dusk.
The worries of life
Numbered in bruises,
Scrapes, splinters and scabs.
Lying in damp grass,
We watched stars ignite,
Moonlight hunt shadows,
Sunset burn crimson.
Dog's beckoning bark,
Streetlamps come alive,
Unspoken curfews
To call it a day.
Head, dizzy with youth,
Hit the pillow for
Night's dream of morning.