‘Commentary’ Archives
Raise Your Voice: Consider the Time
By PETER MOLENAAR Peter Molenaar As per the familiar Big Bang, the age of our universe is said to be 13.772 billion years (give or take). However, for old timers such as myself, this estimate is disconcerting. For heaven’s sake, what time was it before the beginning of time? Dear astronomers, please consider the possibility that time has no beginning nor end, and therefor, the dimension of time is cyclical in nature. Then please, consider the corollary: our universe will continue to expand but only to a maximum limit, after which, it will (again) contract to its minimal size limit. In other words, the phenomenon of the Big Bang is itself infinitely cyclical in nature. It seems we ponder such things as Christmas and the new year approaches! Is it normal for the ‘philosophical materialist’ to commend the life of Jesus? Well in fact, Jesus actively opposed the exploiters and oppressors of his day. So, the answer is: yes. But, is [...]
City Songs for Loving the Earth: Growing Darkness
Photomicrograph of Stellar Snowflake, No. 304, circa 1890. Photo: Wilson Bentley, Smithsonian Institution Archives By LINDSEY FENNER We are traveling now through the darkest time of the year. This time can be a struggle for me. Winter makes those small dear moments of being outdoors more difficult to find. Everything is colder, slipperier, darker. I’m learning I need to be more intentional in how I interact with nature during these dark months. My plan this winter: Morning measuring routines: This past spring, I started doing daily precipitation measurements for CoCoRaHS- the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. Every morning at 7AM, I wander outside in my pajamas to see how much precipitation fell in the previous 24 hours. During this summer of drought, there was usually no rain to measure. But I found those few minutes gave me the gift of a scheduled moment every morning to notice– the rain yes, but also the early morning birdsong and the way the [...]
Something I Said: ‘Charmed’ Revisited
Dwight Hobbes. By DWIGHT HOBBES If something isn’t broke, don’t fix it. So goes the truism. Not always the case. Constance M. Burge’s Charmed (CBS/1998 – 2006) was state of the art pop. Solid scripts, strong cast about three white women waxing supernatural against the forces of evil. Charmed (2018 – 2022) reinvents that wheel, doing a fascinating job of it. Starting with casting Latinas as the leads, something nobody could’ve seen coming. Added to which, one sister is lesbian. And there’s a womanist bent. Talk about pushing the envelope, which isn’t all that surprising, considering Canada’s track record for quality commercial fare, including the supernatural hit Lost Girl. This time around for Charmed, there’s feisty firebrand social protester Mel (Melonie Diaz), sexy nerd cum genius biochemist Macy (Madeleine Mantock) and sardonically easy going college kid Maggie (Sarah Jeffrey). Ace ringer Rupert Evans (Hellboy) is glib, debonair [...]
