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Showing posts from September, 2020

Cathy Watts, Ride In Peace

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Fitz is a fan of the obits, and, so, it was Fitz who pointed out the death notice of the Saskatoon woman named Cathy Watts (née Drabble), September 3, 1948 - September 8, 2020, that was written by the deceased woman herself. If you are reading this, it began, I'm no longer here. Fantastic was a good word for Fitz to use. It captured the eerie sense of being reached from another dimension. For an instant, Cathy Watts's first-person obit felt like an electrically charged communication with someone beyond.  In her auto-bit, Cathy Watts remembered very physical things about her life left behind. The water and rocks of lakes in northern Saskatchewan. The feeling of writing in a notebook. Eating a donut. Quilting. Singing. And other bodily stuff, too. Hugging grandchildren. Swimming nude. Voting. Riding a bicycle.  Riding a bicycle was the joy of joys for Cathy Watts.  "Most of all I was passionately in love with cycling," she wrote. "The very first time I got on a bik

The art of Slavo Cech

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A few things hit home today. The first four were sculptures by Slavo Cech.  Today was Slavo's #ArtHuntYEG. At 10:00 am, 12 noon, 2:00 pm and 4:00 pm, the artist placed a sculpture in a public place, shared a pic on social media with a written clue and waited while fans tried to figure out where it was.  The first one to get there got the artwork. The first sculpture—they're worth about $500 each, btw—was at the old End of the World lookout down from Saskatchewan Drive. It's now called Keillor Point. Much safer sounding. Still a killer view. Slavo dropped the next one at  ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ Indigenous Art Park. I remember being at the park the day it opened. Speeches were made. A ribbon was cut. It snowed. Umbrellas popped open.  Slavo placed the third on the site of the former Provincial Museum in Glenora.  And the fourth showed up at a statue at the University of Alberta. Putting it mildly, the sculpture winners were overjoyed to take a piece of Slavo home.  Sculptur