A Farewell to a Good Friend
Friday, June 19, 2026
 | | Christopher Dafoe |
Send-offs to
old friends can be melancholic. Such is the case for a going away (to Winnipeg)
event at the Sylvia Hotel today at 7 for Christopher Dafoe.
Christopher
and I collaborated (me with photographs, he with interviews) of famous people
for the Globe and Mail in Vancouver. Of all the many writers I ever worked with
this man could sit in front of someone like film director Krzysztof Kieślowski and not say anything. The folks
facing him would look at his calm face and simply open up with all sorts of
intimate details.
Christopher
was gracious enough to allow me to be present at these interviews, usually in
Vancouver hotels so that I could get my large camera and lights ready and to
observe the mannerisms of the person who would face my camera.
I met
Christopher many years before when he worked for CITR Radio. I may be one of
the few persons that remembers that he was a DJ at the stripper heaven Drake
Hotel. He taught the ecdysiasts to appreciate local punk and pop bands. I saw
some of my favourites like Cheri dance to Maurice and the Clichés.
When
Christopher was asked by the Globe to move to Toronto he declined. He entered the
University of British Columbia and became a highfalutin lawyer.
I will always
be grateful to Chris as he has been the only person who appreciated my rose
scans and bought one (yes!) from me.
I wish
Christopher the best in his native city of Winnipeg.
An added
humorous note. The picture you see here I made into a place mat. I have no idea
if Christopher kept it.
Two Pinkies
Thursday, June 18, 2026
 | | Top - Rosa 'Princess Alexandra of Kent' & Rosa 'Fantin Latour' 18 June 2026 |
The few who
might read my blogs may be thinking, “When
is this idiot going to stop scanning his roses and show us some of his erotic
portraits of women?”
The fact is
that at this time of the year my roses are in bloom and whenever I look at them
I am almost sure they tell me, “Scan me now.”
I have
written a few times about Julian Barnes’s latest book Departures(s) in which he
does not explain why that s in in brackets. He writes about IAm or Invonluntary Autobiographical Memory. When
I looked at the smallish pink rose in the scan here, Rosa ‘Fantin Latour’ I was hit by the memory of where this rose was
planted (by the fence on 45thAve) in our Kerrisdale home. Yes, the rose in my
Kits garden may at least be 18 years old. Julian Barnes & the Lemon Table
I wrote
about the artist Latour in this blog (link below) and I connected him to a portrait I took
of a wonderful woman called Caitlin Legault. Henri Fantin Latour
The other
rose, a much larger one, was one of Rosemary’s favourites as its name, ‘Princess
Alexandra of Kent’ connects the rose to our older daughter (58) Alexandra.
Without me
being able to stop the memory (IAM) I am barraged by remembrances that connect
my roses to people or incidents of my past life.
More often
these roses barrage me with thoughts of my Rosemary who first gently forced me
to go to a meeting of the Vancouver Rose Society in 1991. Rosemary said I had too many pink roses, but she did love the Princess.
And yes
putting here scans of my roses is about as satisfying as my erotic photographs
of women.
A Forrest Rose in My Garden
Saturday, June 13, 2026
 | | Rosa 'Boscobel' 13 June 2026 |
Rosa 'Boscobel', bred by British breeder
David C.H. Austin, is named after the historic Boscobel House in Shropshire,
England. History of the Name: Boscobel House (built in 1632) is famous for its
role in the English Civil War. After his defeat at the Battle of Worcester in
1651, King Charles II fled and hid from Oliver Cromwell's soldiers on the
Boscobel estate—most famously in the "Royal Oak" tree.The etymology
of the place name "Boscobel" itself traces back to Italian roots:"Bosco": derived from the Late Latin
boscus, meaning "wood" or
"forest.""Bella":
from Latin, meaning "beautiful."Combined, it is believed to translate
roughly to "beautiful wood" or "fair wood" in Italian.Unlike many
perennials, roses are usually named after people or places. Because I take
seriously being a rosarian (a rose fanatic), when I find out the name of a rose, somehow I get a pleasant knowledge of history.
David Austin
started hybridizing roses in 1961 when
he introduced Rosa ‘Constance Spry’. He died on December 18, 2018, at the age
of 92. Born in 1926, he was affectionately known as the "Father of the English Rose" and spent his life breeding
famous varieties that combined the charm and fragrance of old roses with the
repeat-blooming trait of modern roses.
While my
wife Rosemary died on December 9, 2020, living in what used to be our house and
our garden I cannot escape my loss. I am stared at by her framed portraits and
that of our family throughout the house. When her cat Niña is in my bed I
relive my loss.
One of the
few situations when I fell a bit less
melancholic is when I scan my roses and plants. My vision is very good so I am
able to remove the dust specks with my Photoshop 8 which is 23 years old.
Today I was
struck by the lovely colour of this English Rose so I knew I had to scan it.
Thanks to my
search of the etymology of Boscobel I found out that boscus is Latin for wood
or forest. Now I know where the Spanish word for forrest “bosque” came from.
Saved by the Geniuses of EJ Phone Repair
Monday, June 08, 2026
 | | Rosa 'Mrs. Oakley Fisher' & Hosta 'First Frost' 8 June 2026 |
Today June 8,
the folks at EJ Phone Repair solved the problem of not being able to place
photographs in my blog. Mike came to my house and in under 3 minutes solved the
matter. It seems that my Google Blogger was no longer compatible with my Firefox
Blogger. He switched it to Google Chrome and voilà.
For many
days I was completely depressed and felt like my life was just waiting to die.
More than ever I was realizing that in my daily tasks writing my blog is an
element of stability. My blog, particularly now in the gardening season,
enables me to place my plant scans as an excuse to write something.
At first
Mike and Chris at EJ Phone Repair suspected that my 22-year-old Dell CRT
monitor was the problem. They lent me a 28 inch wide Acer monitor. The problem
persisted. One it was solved they sold me the splendid 28 inch wide Acer for
little money. While this blog is being placed June 8 I am writing this June 9.
Today I had
the pleasure of taking my Dell monitor to Kent Street where I gave it a fond
goodbye as it served me well. The new Acer has been previously calibrated for
colour but I will be hiring a gentleman named Harris to calibrate the monitor,
my scanner and printer shortly.
I am a happy
man.
Perfectly Asymmetrical
Sunday, June 07, 2026
 | | Pam & top left Hosta 'Polka Dot Bikini' - Hosta 'Snake Eyes' & Hosta 'Strip Tease' |
In quite a
few blogs I have written of my love for asymmetry. Some years ago I had the
good fortune to know a model called Pam when I was teaching at Focal Point on
10th Ave. To my delight she told me that she had been born minus an
arm and one of her legs was longer. In her late teens the long leg was
shortened. The result was an asymmetrical
body. I wrote about it for a photographic web page called Zone Zero that was
the idea of a Mexican photographer called Pedro Meyer.
Zone ZeroA few days
ago I noticed a hosta called “Polka Dot Bikini” that not only had asymmetrical
patterned leaves but one leaf in particular grabbed my attention.
As a former
member (I quit last year) of the American Hosta Society when I went to
conventions, judges avoided giving prizes for hosta with asymmetry. And yet one
of the first hostas to feature it is a well-known Hosta ‘Strip Tease’.
Today I
decided to feature three hosta leaves with a photograph that I took of Pam that
shows the wonders of her body,
I have
mentioned many times how tourists who flock to Mexico often write or mention
how in markets the piles of fruit and vegetables are perfectly symmetrical.
I believe
that an appreciation of asymmetry is the next step in civilization. As far as I
know one of the few asymmetrical cars was Rambler that had a passenger door
that was larger. There is no real reason why car fronts have to be perfectly
the same on one side as the other.
Many of my
35mm Nikons and particular my excellent FM-2 are perfectly asymmetrical. I
wonder why designers went that route.
Most of my
portraits are not the same on one side as on the other. In my landscapes I never place the horizon
in the middle.
Is asymmetry in human evolution?
I could not resist so I addeda most asymetric Rosa 'Zepherine Druhin'
A Roundabout
Saturday, June 06, 2026
 | | Rosa 'Emily Carr' 5 June 2026 |
I have found a roundabout method to place photographs into my Blogger blog. I scanned this lovely rose and then sent it to myself by email. I clicked on the scan and I was given the chance to share it. This I did in my Facebook page. Once there I copied it and then pasted it here. It worked. This is awfully elaborate but it means that I will be able to write a few blogs before the chaps from EJ Phone Repair on Monday can sort through my problems.
A Temporary Solution to my Blogger Problem
Friday, June 05, 2026
 | | Niña, left 7 my departed Niño (May 12) right |
I am unable to put new photographs into my blog. I can put old photographs. This means that I can at least write my daily blogs. It is a slight relief. The folks from EJ Phone Repair will come to my house on Monday to see if my problem can be resolved. Meanwhile I will post these blogs.
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