Discussion:
1914-1918 Vigil
(too old to reply)
longshanks
2008-11-04 03:41:49 UTC
Permalink
...And speaking of World War One, for Remembrance Day this year,
Canadian actor R.H. Thomson, along with many others, has organized the
Vigil.

Here's what it says on the Vigil website:

"At sunset November 4th through to sunrise November 11th, this site will
present a vigil commemorating the 68,000 Canadians who lost their lives
in WWI. The names of the 68,000 war dead will be projected over a week
of nights onto the National War Memorial in Ottawa, buildings in other
regions of Canada and onto the side of Canada House in Trafalgar Square
in London, England."

It seems that what they're going to do is project the names of the
Canadian war dead, one by one, on the side of Canada House in London,
England. Four hours later (I think), the same names will be projected
in some large outdoor venue in the Atlantic provinces, then one hour
later in Quebec and Ontario, and one hour later in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan, then one hour later in Alberta, and then one hour later in
British Columbia.

The idea is that our war dead were not brought home to Canada; they were
buried at or near the battlefieds in Europe. So, this project
symbolically "walks them home", time zone by time zone.

This starts on the night of November 4th (tomorrow) and continues each
night for a week until Remembrance Day on November 11th. You can check
out the Vigil in each location and time zone on the website:
http://1914-1918.ca/vigil.aspx?lang=en

Ed Wilson
--
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of fantasy is not an escape from reality but a significant education
about the nature of life. And reality is not an escape from nonsense.
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Patty Winter
2008-11-07 07:04:54 UTC
Permalink
Ed, thanks for the heads-up about this. I've been watching
it occasionally the past couple of nights. I can't believe
there are some folks standing in front of the National War
Memorial chatting at nearly two in the morning! Oh, okay,
they finally left...

The image on the website is small, but I get that the changing
text near the top of the memorial matches the words being
displayed in the Flash window. But what is the text on the
columns of the memorial? Do we have anyone here from Ottawa
who can fill us in on that?

I assume that the buildings in the background are East
Block of Parliament and Chateau Laurier, with the cars
going over the Wellington Street bridge over the Rideau
Canal. A friend and I were just in Ottawa a couple of
months ago, mostly right in that area. (Our hotel was
in Byward Market, just a couple of blocks from Chateau
Laurier.)

Here's my plug for anyone who hasn't ever visited Ottawa
to do so! It's a lovely city, very walkable, and of course
with all the amenities (museums, archives, etc.) that one
would expect of a national capital. Plus Mountie horses!
And, for that matter, Mounties! :-)


Patty
longshanks
2008-11-09 19:23:13 UTC
Permalink
Post by Patty Winter
Ed, thanks for the heads-up about this. I've been watching
it occasionally the past couple of nights. I can't believe
there are some folks standing in front of the National War
Memorial chatting at nearly two in the morning! Oh, okay,
they finally left...
That's seems odd to me, too. I don't think Ottawa is a 24-hour town.
Post by Patty Winter
But what is the text on the
columns of the memorial? Do we have anyone here from Ottawa
who can fill us in on that?
I can't answer that, myself.
Post by Patty Winter
Here's my plug for anyone who hasn't ever visited Ottawa
to do so! It's a lovely city, very walkable, and of course
with all the amenities (museums, archives, etc.) that one
would expect of a national capital.
Lots of interesting stuff in Ottawa, but the think I remember from being
there in 1977 was the godawful humidity. Apparently, southern Ontario
commonly has tropical humidity in the summer and it certainly was
miserable while I was there.
Post by Patty Winter
Plus Mountie horses! And, for that matter, Mounties! :-)
You wouldn't see many horses, but, if you want to see more mounties, you
should check out the training centre in Regina.

Ed Wilson
Patty Winter
2008-11-09 21:53:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by longshanks
Post by Patty Winter
I can't believe
there are some folks standing in front of the National War
Memorial chatting at nearly two in the morning!
That's seems odd to me, too. I don't think Ottawa is a 24-hour town.
It certainly seems like a vibrant city in the evenings, especially
around Byward Market. But yeah, 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning seems
odd to me, especially in November! Brrr! Maybe they're relatives of
people whose names are being shown at that time. I've seen people
there at that time the last couple of nights, too. I was up past
midnight Pacific Time last night, but forgot to look to see whether
anyone was still out in Ottawa.
Post by longshanks
Lots of interesting stuff in Ottawa, but the think I remember from being
there in 1977 was the godawful humidity. Apparently, southern Ontario
commonly has tropical humidity in the summer and it certainly was
miserable while I was there.
Is Ottawa considered southern Ontario? I'd have guesssed middle,
but anyway...yes, I was very worried about that before our August
trip, but it was the only time we could go due to the Stratford
schedule and our individual schedules. It turned out fine. We had
two fairly hot and somewhat humid days in Ottawa; the rest of the
time in Ontario was just fine. And I'm from the Bay Area, so I'm
a real wimp about humidity. Maybe we were just lucky.
Post by longshanks
You wouldn't see many horses, but, if you want to see more mounties, you
should check out the training centre in Regina.
Yes, I'm sure the Depot is very interesting. I'll probably visit
if I ever get to Regina.

BTW, my Ontario pix are here:

http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Ontario/

Including one of a Mountie with his horse, who is grazing on
the grass on Parliament Hill.


Patty
longshanks
2008-11-09 22:55:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by Patty Winter
Post by longshanks
Lots of interesting stuff in Ottawa, but the think I remember from being
there in 1977 was the godawful humidity. Apparently, southern Ontario
commonly has tropical humidity in the summer and it certainly was
miserable while I was there.
Is Ottawa considered southern Ontario? I'd have guesssed middle
Well, I don't know what's considered official or what Ontarians,
themselves, would say, but, my personal view is that anything that isn't
the precambrian shield (which is most of Ontario) counts as southern.
If the land is farmable and there's a network of roads connecting towns
and cities, it's southern Ontario; that's how I divide southern and
northern Saskatchewan, anyway.
Post by Patty Winter
Post by longshanks
You wouldn't see many horses, but, if you want to see more mounties, you
should check out the training centre in Regina.
Yes, I'm sure the Depot is very interesting. I'll probably visit
if I ever get to Regina.
http://www.wintertime.com/OH/Ontario/
Looks like you had excellent weather for the whole trip.
longshanks
2008-11-09 18:49:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Patty Winter
Ed, thanks for the heads-up about this. I've been watching
it occasionally the past couple of nights. I can't believe
there are some folks standing in front of the National War
Memorial chatting at nearly two in the morning! Oh, okay,
they finally left...
That's seems odd to me, too. I don't think Ottawa is a 24-hour town.
Post by Patty Winter
But what is the text on the
columns of the memorial? Do we have anyone here from Ottawa
who can fill us in on that?
I can't answer that, myself.
Post by Patty Winter
Here's my plug for anyone who hasn't ever visited Ottawa
to do so! It's a lovely city, very walkable, and of course
with all the amenities (museums, archives, etc.) that one
would expect of a national capital.
Lots of interesting stuff in Ottawa, but the think I remember from being
there in 1977 was the godawful humidity. Apparently, southern Ontario
commonly has tropical humidity in the summer and it certainly was
miserable while I was there.
Post by Patty Winter
Plus Mountie horses! And, for that matter, Mounties! :-)
You wouldn't see many horses, but, if you want to see more mounties, you
should check out the training centre in Regina.

Ed Wilson

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