“Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?
They say the bird is on the wing, Ain’t that absurd?
I always thought the wing was on the bird!”
I always thought that Ogden Nash wrote that little poem, but when I checked to be sure, before I put it into the newspaper, I discovered that it was the prolific writer Anonymous! Ah well, another childhood dream gone.
April is National Poetry Month and the Flin Flon Writers Guild hosted another wonderful Poetry Night, in conjunction with the Flin Flon Public Library. A veritable who’s who of area residents read some wonderful writings from all over the world. The chorus of Mamma Mia was excused from those duties in honour of the event. Poetry does not often get its place in the limelight and we have some amazing talent in our communities - perhaps we should incorporate some readings at Culture Days celebrations?
April 17 is also National Film Day and the leadership team at the Central Canada Film Group are showing Anthropocene: The Human Epoch. This film just won the Best Documentary Award at the Canadian Screen Awards (CSAs), televised on March 31. The filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Edward Burtynsky are no strangers to winning. This is the third film in a trilogy they began in 2006 with Manufactured Landscapes, then followed in 2013 with Watermark, each of which won best documentary honours at CSAs.
The series of films follows the work of a team of scientists called the Anthropocene Working Group who, after 10 years of research, have advanced the theory that the Holocene epoch (the name given to the current geological time that we live in) has given way to a new era, the Anthropocene epoch. This is massive in that epochs have been very long-lasting. The Holocene epoch in has existed since the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years. The working group of scientists are proposing that the current epoch changed in the middle of the 20th century (I was alive then!) because of the speed of climate change brought about by human activity on the planet.
This film documents the profound and arguably lasting changes to Earth in our lifetimes because of what we did, are doing and continue to do, with stunning images. If you see nothing else this year, go see this film. It is only $10 and will be shown at Hapnot Collegiate Dorothy Ash Theatre tonight.
There will be another film in the “Great Films You Might Have Missed” series presented by Colin Davis on Friday April 27, also at the Dorothy Ash Theatre. It is Il Ladrone (The Good Thief), a story about Caleb, a petty criminal and magician living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. He witnesses the water into wine miracle and their lives intertwine, leading to Calvary. Most fitting for a post-Easter laugh (or cry). This film is free; I know - amazing!
