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EPSODE 2,226 -JEAN CHRETIEN IS IN A FIGHTING MOOD OVER THE 25% TARIFF AIMED TO DESTROY CANADA — IT WON’TWORK — (thanks to globe and mail research news)

Episode  2,226

alan skeoch
jan. 15, 2025

Now here is the Jean Chretien I remember so well…always willing to step in and step up
when needed.  Bullying just does not work Mr. Trump.  We Canadians have regarded
Americans as our best friends even though our political structure is different.   I find it
difficult to understand why we are now on the U.S. hate list.  Or is this some kind of game!

Read below…Jean Chretien is really angry and hurt…and I believe expresses our collective will.



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EPISODE 1,205, JANUARY 15, 2025: PICASSO’S GUERNICA: YOU MUST INTERPRET THE PAINTING YOURSELF FIRST


EPISODE 1,205,  JANUARY 15, 2025:   PICASSO’S GUERNICA:  YOU MUST INTERPRET THE PAINTING YOURSELF FIRST

alan skeoch
january 15, 2025

Note:  Marjorie invited me to view the film Picasso at our local cinema.  I had not given the painting much thought
although I had seen it often in my 86 years.  Perhaps you are as ignorant as I was.  Can you see meaning?
My thanks to Margaret Geare and the retired elementary teachers of Mississauga.  Visit AMC In January.


PABLO PICASSO’S MOST FAMOUS PIECE OF ART —“GUERNICA”

What does it mean?   Picasso never explained the meaning.  And even today there are
various interpretations of Guernica.   If asked meaning Picasso is said to have carried a pistol
loaded with blanks that he fired at those seeking meaning from him.  Why did he do that? What does Guernica mean?
Take a look and suggest meaning.  What do you see?  Do that now…before looking at
what others see.  Do it now.

Your note?  Right here!


WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED on  on April and May , 1937

Guernica, located in Basque country, was a place of particular importance to the Republicans. Although the city had no military significance, it was symbolic of the Basque culture. On April 26, 1937, Hitler’s German Condor Legion bombed the city for three hours, acting in support of General Franco. Twenty five bomber planes bombed the town with 100,000 pounds of explosives, and twenty more planes hunted down citizens trying to flee the scene. It is thought that the majority of citizens were trapped in the center of the town, as it was market day, and they were unable to escape as the roads and bridges surrounding them had been destroyed. The majority of men were at war, so most of the 1,600 townspeople injured or killed were women and children. 

News of the attack reached Paris on May 1, 1937. As a supporter of the Republicans, Picasso was horrified by the news and began work on the preliminary sketches that would become the Guernica mural. In the 1940s, a German officer would see a photograph of Guernica in Picasso’s apartment and ask, “Did you do that?”, to which Picasso replied, “No. You did.”


I am not an art critic.  When I searched my mind for meaning what did I see?   I saw the
absolute horrors of war.  A bomb has been detonated in the market square of the
Basque town of Guernica in 1937…dropped from a Nazi dive bomber on women and children…
horses and bulls…blasting them into tiny meaningful pieces…expressing Picasso’s hatred
of war and the mindless atrocities war brings upon innocent people and animals.

No doubt that ignorant comment would prompt Picasso to take a blank shot at me.

WHAT DO OTHERS SEE IN ‘GUERNICA’?
(courtesy of singulart)

In Guernica, we can see six human figures – four women, a man, and a child – as well as a horse and a bull. The scene is frenzied, lit only by a lamp bulb bursting with light over all of the chaos. 

To the left of the painting, a bull whose side has been pierced by a dagger looms over a devastated mother, wailing as she holds her dead child in her arms. A horse brays as it tramples a fallen man, whose right arm has been severed from his body. In his dismembered hand he holds a shattered sword, and we can see a flower blooming from his clenched fist. Two ghostly figures float eerily toward the center of the piece, one holding a gas lamp to examine the turmoil in front of her. At the right of the painting, we can see a figure screaming, engulfed in flames.   

Guernica is painted in a monochromatic palette, using a technique known as grisaille. Picasso had a paint specially created for Guernica in order to use the least amount of gloss possible and emulate the immediacy of wartime photography. Despite the immense size of Guernica, it only took Picasso a month and a half to complete, ready to be exhibited in the Spanish Pavilion of the Paris World Fair. 

Speaking about Guernica, Picasso stated: 

“My whole life as an artist has been nothing more than a continuous struggle against reaction and the death of art. In the picture I am painting, which I shall call Guernica, I am expressing my horror of the military caste which is now plundering Spain into an ocean of misery and death.” 

Symbolism of Guernica 

Picasso never publicly confirmed any of the interpretations of Guernica, and its meaning has been hotly debated ever since its creation. Here, Singulart breaks down the elements of the piece along with their possible symbolism. 

www.singulart.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H25224_Guernica_Ruinen-300×220.jpg 300w, www.singulart.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H25224_Guernica_Ruinen-768×562.jpg 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px” style=”box-sizing: border-box; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; max-width: 100%; display: block; border: 0px; vertical-align: bottom; outline: 0px !important;” apple-inline=”yes” id=”C9326565-BAC3-4A26-9843-672B599DDD88″ src=”https://alanskeoch.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-H25224_Guernica_Ruinen.jpg”>
Die Ruinen von Guernica 5603/37

It is believed that the bull, with its dispassionate, expressionless face, could symbolize Franco. However, as a bull is a symbol for virility, the stab wounds of the bull could symbolize that man is fractured, that humanity in general is in trouble. It has also been theorized that the bull could be an emblem of Spanish culture, as Picasso had referenced bullfighting in previous paintings (this would also account for the stab wounds on the bull). 

The mother and child at the left of the painting could be a reference to Madonna and child, or more specifically a symbol of pieta. Pieta, or pity, is a trope that has been seen in countless artworks, referencing Mary carrying Jesus’s dead body in her arms after he was taken down from the cross. 

The horse is the center of the painting; our eye is immediately drawn to its panicked, hysterical expression. It is generally believed that the horse symbolizes the Guernican people, with the arrow piercing the horse’s side adding to this conclusion. It is interesting to note that early sketches of the horse, hidden on this canvas by layers of paint and revisions, portrayed it with a downward expression, as if admitting defeat. Here, in the final version, the horse has been struck and in pain but remains defiant until its last moments. 

The only male figure in this painting can be seen under the horse, screaming in pain as the horse tramples his dismembered body. Only the upper half of his body is visible, with the rest lost in the swirling chaos surrounding him. While one of his hands shows signs of the stigmata, another Biblical reference, a white flower grows out of the broken sword in the other hand, which could symbolize hope after destruction. 

The lamp that hangs overhead, illuminating the scene, could be interpreted as a bomb dropping. However, some critics have argued that it represents the eye of God. It has also been suggested that the lamp represents the notion of technology being used to propel evil, shining a spotlight on the dark side of modern technology. 

Historians have debated the meaning of the three women on the right side of the painting. It has been suggested that the women represent the three fates, as seen in Greek mythology, or that they could depict the three martyred virgins of early Christianity. They could also be a reflection of Picasso’s personal life, portraying his wife and two lovers. 

Picasso was deliberately obtuse about the meaning of Guernica, which is partly why it has been so thoroughly discussed and debated since its creation. He stated, “It isn’t up to the painter to define the symbols… The public who look at the picture must interpret the symbols as they understand them.”


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Episode 1,204: ARTICLE BY PETE McMARTIN == VANCOUVER SUN, dec.26, 2023


I just received this article written by Pete McMartin and published by the Vancouver Sun.
Yes, Most Canadians suffer from a ‘holier than thou’ tendency when confronted by
the gun loving United States.

Terrific article John…can I send it forward to my Episodes with credit to Pete McMartin?

We are living in a sane society bordering an insane society.  Gun loving. Long ago we inherited the
family rifle. I carried it to the OPP detachment close to us rather than pass it on to
my eldest son.  Assume it was destroyed.   

We put real maple syrup on pan cakes .. 
                                                                                                                                                                                        m,,,,,,,,
alan skeoch

january 9, 2025








Pete McMartin: Why the U.S. should be Canada’s 11th province
Donald Trump joked about Canada becoming the 51st state during his dinner with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago last month
Author of the article:
Published Dec 26, 2024
Sixteen reasons why the U.S. should become Canada’s 11th province:

• Because Canada isn’t led by a convicted felon.

• Because the only thing in maple syrup is maple syrup, as opposed to high-fructose corn syrup, water, cellulose gum, salt, caramel colour, sorbic acid, sodium benzoate, sodium citrate and artificial flavours, which Americans call “pancake syrup” — although in a pinch it can be used as transmission fluid.

• Because the scandal-ridden U.S. Supreme Court has members on it who appear to be uniquely unqualified to judge conflicts-of-interest, women’s rights or ethical conduct. According to most recent polls, the court’s reputation has sunk to historical lows, with a majority of Americans unhappy with its performance. Meanwhile, the only thing scandalous about Canada’s Supreme Court is … wait, what? Canada has a Supreme Court?

• Because Saturday Night Live has never been, or ever will be, as funny as SCTV or Kids In The Hall.

• Because as of 2022, life expectancy in Canada was 81.3 years, while life expectancy in the U.S. was 77.43 years. Scientists believe this discrepancy was due, in large part, to the consumption of pancake syrup.

• According to the U.S. non-profit Prison Policy Initiative, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any democracy in the world. In fact, every single U.S. state incarcerates more people per capita than all but 28 other nations on earth. Louisiana has the highest rate of incarceration at 1,067 inmates per 100,000 population, while Massachusetts has the lowest rate at 241 inmates per 100,000 population. Canada’s is 88 inmates per 100,000 population.

• Because while thousands of Canadians were dying on the battlefields of Europe and Asia during the Second World War, the U.S. remained neutral for the next two years, unable or unwilling to recognize the threat that fascists posed to the world. Apparently, Americans are still unable to recognize that threat, especially the one at home.

• Because the United States has transformed the longest undefended border in the world into a bullshit political talking point in which trade, transgressions and blame flow only one way. If President-elect Donald Trump is upset by fentanyl going southward — despite the fact that the amount of fentanyl going into the U.S. from Canada is so small his own U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration characterizes it as “slippage” — why does he not show the same concerns for illegal firearms going northward? If, as he sees it, a trade imbalance exists in Canada’s favour, why is he resorting to inflationary tariffs on Canadian goods rather than recognizing and addressing the real reason for that trade imbalance — namely his constituents’ insatiable appetites and need for Canadian oil, gas, electrical power, automobiles, rare minerals, gold, lumber, etc.?

• As of mid-December, according to CNN, there have been at least 83 school shootings in the U.S. in 2024, which left 38 people dead and at least 115 people physically injured. How many people were left permanently traumatized by those shootings was not reported. While the U.S. government does not track these attacks, The Washington Post was able to document at least 426 school shootings since the infamous 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. At least 215 children and teachers died in those attacks. America’s response to end this carnage? More guns. As of last count, at least 25 U.S. states allow schools or school districts to give permission to “individuals” to carry guns on school property. Twenty states already allow school security personnel to carry guns, while nine states have enacted policies allowing school employees other than security personnel to carry guns on school property.

• Because Americans insist on killing themselves due to a perverse love of guns. Americans make up four per cent of the world’s population but own just under 50 per cent of the entire global stock of civilian firearms. American civilians own approximately 400 million guns, more than those held by the other top 25 countries combined. The U.S. Constitution enshrined the right of people “to keep and bear arms” in a militia — an anachronism Americans still embrace with deadly enthusiasm. Since 2014, the number of related gun deaths have surpassed 39,000 a year, and have topped 50,000 deaths a year several times. Firearms have become the leading cause of death for children ages one to 17, and disproportionately increase rates of violence among the poor and people of colour.

• Because even the American anthem glorifies war and violence. Rockets’ red glare? Bombs bursting in air? Words to die by. The Canadian anthem? The only thing remotely incendiary are glowing hearts.

• Because the American ethos of unbridled egotism, consumerism and capitalism is given licence in the aptly named Declaration of Independence, where it is enshrined as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” — which could double as the catchphrase for Eat, Pray, Love. The Canadian ethos, on the other hand, is stated in our constitution as “peace, order and good government” — which is undeniably duller and less inspiring, but then it has been the guiding principle in developing a civil society in which we don’t feel the need to arm our teachers.

• Because one has to wonder why, in 2023, the U.S. spent $916 billion on its military, or more than the next nine countries combined. Possibly, this may have to do with the fact that, since its inception, the U.S. has been involved in 115 military conflicts. Baseball is not America’s national pastime.

• Because abortion was made legal in Canada in 1969 under certain circumstances, and became legal throughout the country in 1988, while in the U.S., the Supreme Court (see “uniquely unqualified” above) overturned previous legal decisions protecting abortion rights, thus boldly going back to a patriarchal past where women are second-class citizens without the right to make decisions about their own bodies while men are still free to procreate without regard to legal, financial or moral responsibility.

• Because it’s called North America, not “Amerika.”

• Because America has chosen to alienate its closest friend and ally in the world. Make that America’s last remaining friend in the world.



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EPISODE 1,201: CATARACT SURGERY…NERVOUS ? WHO WOULD NOT BE NERVOUS?




EPISODE  1,201:   CATARACT SURGERY…NERVOUS ?  WHO WOULD NOT BE NERVOUS?

alan skeoch
january 7, 2025

close-up of surgeons hands performing manual eye surgery - cataract surgery stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images


nurse watching senior patient after eye surgery in hospital - cataract surgery stock pictures, royalty-free photos & images

“Alan, your surgeon, Dr. Khan, is on the phone!”
“Hello…what a surprise…a phone call Sunday evening,”
“How are you?”
“Fine…no need for glasses any more.
“That’s fine.”
“If you need an assistant surgeon, give me a call,  I was able to watch
what you did to my right eye as both eyes were open.”

I was joking, of course.  My comment was partly true though. I was conscious
and watching…or it seemed so.  Dr. Khan had precision tools to make a slight
incision in my eyeball then extricate my lens and replace it with a new lens.
That sounds so simple.

I was scared from the moment a nurse slid me onto a wheeled stretcher to
the moment she wheeled me down a long hallway at Queensway Hospital
to the operating room.  Just the thought of cutting my eyeball made me
feel wobbly.

The whole operation was done in a few minutes then I was wheeled into
a recovery room and offered apple juice.  “Can I have a second
apple juice”?  “Sure…you will be going home shortly.”

That is my story in a nutshell.  Catatact surgery has been perfected.
Wish I had not read so much about it.  I belong to the ‘what can go
wrong, will go wrong’ school of thought.
Noting went wrong.

“The eyedrops are the biggest problem, Alan,” said friend John Myers.
And he is correct. Three kinds of eyedrops have to be dropped into
the eye before and after surgery.  That is not easy to do.
I am lucky.  Marjorie does the eye dropping and she does this
four times a day with a three minute pause between drops each session.

“Open your eye…here comes a drop.”

WHAT IF I DID NOT HAVE MARJORIE?  

IT is difficult to do eyedrops into your own eye.   But that is what
a great number of patients face.  Living alone they must be their
own nurse.   Every time Marjorie says “Hold still !” I cringe and
feel sorry for myself.  What a fool I am! Imagine being alone.

Well I bet there are a lot of people living alone right now … trying
to get eyedrops in their own eyes.  And missing with the dropper.

Cataract surgeons, like DR. Khan, are professional.  They know
however that the surgery is only part of the game.   

“Alan, lean back…way back…look at the ceiling.”

ALAN

Note:  SORRY my stories have been delayed by Dr. Khan, Marjorie and
an eye dropper.



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EPIOSODE1,198; imagination: IN THE DARK OF WINTER TIME WHEN ALL AROIUND IS STILL

IN THE DARK OF WINTER TIME WHEN ALL AROUND IS STILL:  IMAGINATION TAKES OVER


alan skeoch
December 22, 2024



UN-ELECTRICITY TIME

There was a time when there was no electricity and when night fell on moonless nights total
dark descended like a shroud.  With darkness came fear.

Why not test that statement.  Turn off the lights tonight…all of them.  In the dark your furnace will
no longer pump warm air and your house heat will fade away.       Your house will take you
on a trip back in time.  How far back will depend upon your imagination.

SUCH A TRIP…IMAGINATION

My next episode will take you on such a trip.  Back to 1945 were an aged couple, Edward and
Louisa Freeman, are spending a Christmas night in near darkness in a gothic red brick
farm house on the fifth line of Wellington County.   A house with no electricity, no indoor plumbing,
no central heating, no telephone.   Not much heat as the cast iron wood stove cools.  
Some light perhaps from the flickering light of a candle or a coal oil finger lamp
lantern.

Bed time.  Two little boys are visiting.  City boys 6 and 7 year old.  Grandma has advanced Parkinsons’
disease which makes her hands tremble and shadows move across the dark rooms enforcing the
sense of terror.  So grandma sings an old song. “Too tired to climb the stairs just like you used to
do…but you’ve put away your fife and drum and now head for the land of nod”.   Grandma knows
the fear that comes with nightfall.  She knows that the icicles hanging inside the rooms could
easily turn to fire should her shaking hands fail her grip.  But the boys need the security of light.

Mom follows and all three…2 boys and their mother…
 roll into bed where grandma has placed hot bricks wrapped in newspaper
to warm the blankets.  Mom’s body and the bricks make the feather bed a welcome living
space.

Grandma and the lamp move away.  The shadows go with her.  Downstairs she sleeps beside a pot bellied
stove.  Grandma on one side grandpa on the other.   The lamp is extinguished and her singing stops
replaced by new sounds not heard before.  The wind outside whistles as it searches for nooks
and crannies in the old house.   Along with the moaning a winter snowstorm’s
 flakes of snow pile one upon the other on  the window ledges.  Inside the house
the moisture provided by the present of humans body heat is converted to water
and then to ice.

The year is 1945.   People lived this way for most of human existence…for thousands of
years before electricity.   Does the darkness scare you?  What happens when you need
to go to the bathroom (i.e. the toilet…i.e. Number 1 or number two).?  The back house
(i.e. the toilet) is outside the house.  

Remember that before you turn off the lights.

I bet few of you can imagine living this way.  But most of human existence has 
been un-electric.

alan
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EPISODE 1,197: CHRISTMAS MINIATURES ON DINING ROOM TABLES, DEC 18,2024






EPISODE  1,197:  CHRISTMAS MINIATURES ON DINING ROOM TABLES, DEC 18,2024

alam skeoch
december 18, 2024

Merry Christmas — By pure chance these miniatures caught our attention and
I hope yours as well.  One is a miniature Noahs Ark made from fine white pine.
Not all the animals could get aboard which must have concerned Noah.  The woodsman
also made a gender error when he carved two male lions but forgot the need for a
female.  Cost me $8 for the whole collection which will now live forever
on the computer.
 

The second collection was made by Marjorie’s friend Joyce who invited us
for special Christmas time display of a miniature village…which included red wine
and mincemeat tarts. “In the winter I enjoy difficult puzzles. Sometimes 
spend as much as three hours in wonderful concentration.”  For Joyce’s
coffee table she had assembled these three dimensional puzzles in plastic Lego.



This is our Christmas card to readers…some of whom have their own kind of Christmas celebrations.
Yes, that is our cat on the table…almost invisible.
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episode 1,193 : The miracle of cataract surgery….may seem silly



Begin forwarded message:


From: marjorie skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>
Subject: Smile
Date: November 27, 2024 at 8:49:50 PM EST
To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>




guess what happened after cataract surgery.

I no longer needed glasses!  All conditions were normal.

Smile again


default icon6751d4819cb3d.html
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EPISODE 1,192 FIVE ROSES COOKBOOK, 1913—RICE PUDDING GIFT TO READERS

EPISODE 1,192   FIVE ROSES COOKBOOK, 1913—RICE PUDDING GIFT TO READERS


alan skeoch
december 4, 2024




Grandma pinned clippings in the Five Roses Cookbook.  She loved
the poetry of Edna Jaques.



December can be a somber month for a lot of people so this episode should be
a little cheerful.  Hope so anyway.  There may be doubt until the rice pudding
comes out of the oven.  Rice pudding?  Marjorie found Grandma Freeman’s
cookbook — dated 1913 or 1915.  The Freeman family moved from the firestorms 
in Northern Ontario in 1914 — moved south to a rock covered 25 acre farm
in Erin Township, Wellington County.  In addition to being a glacial dump
10,000 years ago the tiny farm had five swamps.  It was cheap and Granddad, Edward 
Freeman, professional gardener, had just about run out of options. he got a job as
a munitions maker in Toronto — no sense trying to make a living as a farmer
or market gardener.

So Grandma Louisa Freeman must have sent 30 cents and a mint 10 cent stamp
to get this copy of the Five Roses Cookbook in 1914.  The book contains 900 true and
tested recipes.  Tested?  Yes!  Some 750,000 of these books were sold…at one
point 50% of  the kitchens in Canada had a copy.

Here is my choice for us to test.

RICE PUDDING

3 tablespoons of rice
1 pint milk (2 cups noted Grandma Freeman)
1 cup water
Butter size of an egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg)
Pinch of salt
Raisins may be added

Put in oven and bake for 2 hours — do not disturb the rice.
Take out and on top spread an icing made as follows:

ICING

2 eggs (whites)
1 cup sugar
1 cup raisins (chopped)

Put in oven to brown. Before putting
the icing on top, remove the brown that forms over the rice.

Note: This was cooked in the oven of a wood stove.  Guess
the heat necessary on your electric stove…say 325 degrees
or more.  How do I know this is a good recipe?  I don’t
know for sure — grandma folded the page  though.  Whether 
you fail or succeed is up to you.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

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EPISODE 1,182: CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH: DID DAD REALLY USE SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE SS CAYUGA IN 1948?


EPISODE 1,182:  CONVERSATION WITH ERIC SKEOCH:  DID DAD REALLY  USE SIGN LANGUAGE ON THE SS CAYUGA IN 1948?

alan skeoch
Nov. 15, 2024


SS CAYUGA. built 1907. scrapped 1960. carried 19 million passengers.


ALAN AND DAD…SIGN LANGUAGE

“Hey Eric, did dad really know sign language? “
Remember that excursion on the SS Cayuga to Port Dalhousie or the Niagara river?        I think it was
the summer of 1948 when mom persuaded dad join us on board
at Toronto harbour.   Cost was reasonable…$1 for adults 50 cents for kids.
The Cayuga was getting old but the trip only took 2 hours with a capacity
crowd of 1800 people. The Cayuga was not scrapped until 1960.  Regular 
two hour trips by water then bus to Niagara Falls.

One of the enduring memories is dad surrounded by a crowd of 20 or so’deaf people.
Stone deaf.  Dad is  in the centre wiggling his fingers rapdly.  And the deaf people
are laughing.  Tears in their eyes kind of laughter.  They were enjoying his silliness.
We were embarrassed.  Seemed to us that dad was poking cruel fun at their handicap.

Now I see things a bit differently.  Last year I had knee surgery and was in a
wheelchair for a time.  Nobody talked to me.  It was a feeling that I did not
exist.  So I began speaking to others in wheelchairs and often their faces lit up.

And I thought of dad among the deaf crowd on the SS Cayuga.  They knew dad
was silly.   They loved being acknowledged.