Folk Fest Favourites

I am continually amazed at how many events are held in Edmonton every summer.  After living here for almost 6 years, I finally attended my first Edmonton Folk Music Festival this past weekend.  I really enjoyed the whole experience!  Loved Gallagher Park (another first).  Loved all of the environmentally friendly policies, such as water stations to fill up your water bottles, reusable plates and biodegradable cutlery.  Loved the waving Folk Fest candles on the hill at night.  And definitely loved the music!
 
Here are some of my favourites:

1. Brandi Carlile (Washington State)
2. Matt Andersen (New Brunswick) 
3. K.T. Tunstall (Scotland)
4. Jeremy Fisher (Quebec)
5. The Once (Newfoundland)
6. Amelia Curran (Newfoundland)
7. Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros (Los Angelos)
8. Serena Ryder (Ontario)
9. Pieta Brown (Iowa)
10. Sarah Jarosz (Texas)

Will definitely try to get tickets again, but next time I will be more prepared.  Festival chairs, full rain gear, and warm clothing are a must.  And a lighter for that Folk Fest candle!

(Funny story - Sunday evening my Folk Fest candle blew out just as I got back to our tarp.  When I tapped the shoulder of the middle-aged gentleman lounging in his festival chair and smoking weed two tarps ahead to ask to borrow his lighter, he nearly jumped out of his seat!  His expression of naked fear quickly turned to relief as he realized I was not a police officer about to catch him red handed with an illegal substance.)

We Need to Talk About Kevin

So the real reason I started this blog was to have a forum to discuss this masterpiece by Lionel Shriver.  This story dissects the events leading up to a fictional high school shooting as told from the perspective of the killer's mother.  As with the last Shriver novel I read, So Much For That, this novel is wonderfully written and incredibly provocative, chock-full of insightful comments about various aspects of modern society.  It is a powerful book that stays with you long after you have turned the last page.

The high school shooting at the crux of this book took place in the spring of 1999.  I was a high school student at that time, and I remember the pervasive fear following the Columbine massacre and - closer to home - the Taber shooting.  One day we arrived at school and someone had spray painted in large black letters: Trenchcoat Mafia 12:00.  The school was evacuated and classes were canceled for the day.  A couple years later at university, I recall that it was a common occurrence for someone to make a bomb threat during final exams, causing the building to be evacuated and the exams postponed.  I am no longer as familiar with student life, but I fervently hope that these occurrences are now a thing of the past. 

What I find so intriguing about this book is that I still cannot pin down exactly what I think about Kevin.  He is a remorseless serial killer, an unlovable monster.  But the novel asks the uncomfortable question: how did he get to be this way?  Should I blame Eva for being an admittedly terrible mother who, despite her best efforts to the contrary, resented her son from before he was born?  Blaming Eva is by far the most attractive option.  It allows me the conceit that if I am a good mother who wants and loves my child, that child will never turn into a monster like Kevin.  But Shriver doesn't let the reader off the hook so easily.  Eva's attempts at motherhood may evoke deserving criticism, but Franklin was a very involved father who showered his son with love from the day he was born.  So what if Kevin was simply born a monster and it was inevitable that he would eventually grow up to murder innocents, regardless of the nature of his upbringing?  This option is so terrifying I cannot help but shy away from it.  As someone who wants to be a mother someday, I have to believe - however naively - that I will never be a mother like Eva so therefore I will never end up with a child like Kevin.

The book has now been made into a movie, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this spring.  Although I have not seen the movie (as it has not yet been released), the reviews so far are quite promising.  And I cannot imagine anyone better suited to portray Eva than Tilda Swinton.  Arguably the person who suffered most from Kevin's actions, it is nevertheless strangely difficult to sympathize with Eva as she struggles to understand the reason why.

 

Welcome

I have finally taken the plunge and started a blog.  Hopefully it will be entertaining for one and all (or at least for me).

I recently finished editing and organizing my pictures from the past 2+ years.  This may be one of my favourites:

This picture was taken many moons ago on my birthday with my brand spanking new Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens.  I am no dog whisperer, but I think Odin's expression can be summed up as "Why are you STILL playing with that camera when you could be playing with ME?"  Lucky for me I am back in his good books and he is currently curled up in a sleepy ball of fur at my feet.