Ooga Booga! - Hallowe'eeeeeen 2010

Have FUN!

Too Cute not to SHARE ...

I've just been sent these pics of a baby porcupine ... they are too cute not to share. I don't know who the original photographer is, or where the location is, but LOOK at that little critter and marvel for a moment at Nature's mighty mysteries ... :)

Thanksgiving 2010 - Roots are Essential

For those of you who follow this blog, you'll know that this summer has been a very interesting and demanding one. Not only did I have my second public gallery exhibition, ['Memory's Shadow: Pinhole & Photo Collage Photography' by yours truly, well received and reviewed btw], I also undertook a personal crusade effective of mid-July to save a new park on the Niagara Escarpment from ruin. The mis-guided introduction of three fields of artificial turf aka 'plastic grass' into what is otherwise one of the few remaining wildlife corridors in Southern Ontario is an eco-disgrace.

In many ways, it seems to me, the last minute 'development' of this parkland area since December 2009 to satisfy 'out of town' sporting interests (the PanAm Games) re-enacts a well worn 'attitude' that the dominant & domineering human culture has about 'the planet' - in general. Locally, it can be seen in the 'colonializing' intent to reshape a natural environment to fulfill the over-weening AMBITION of bureaucratic planners, designers and landscape 'architects' to IMPROVE what Nature has done well and quietly for centuries.

After publicly protesting this venture through a petition (yes, you can still vote on my previous post), and then standing up at an Environmental Hearing last week to be HEARD, we are now waiting for the Tribunal to decide this park's fate.

In many ways, it doesn't look good. Millions of dollars have been 'earmarked' for this park's development. We all know that money speaks louder then words. Even so, if anyone of 'import' IS listening, hopefully they will come to understand that what is currently being destroyed is an IRREPLACEABLE CONNECTION to THIS wholly unique land for all of US, here, in Southern Ontario.

This leads me to the topic of this post - ROOTS. They connect us to each other by blood. And they ultimately and intimately connect us to the planet in our need for water, air and land. Without them, we flounder, fail and lose our bearings. Roots are essential for personal well-being and growth.

New City Park offers us, and generations to come, a chance to re-connect to the land and our vital living roots in ways that plastic grass never can. Without REAL roots, we are lost.

Roots assist us to define, refine and become who we singularly are. We all have them. We all need them. I am 'canajun' from HERE, Southern Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment, born & bred. To destory that, to smother it with toxic non-biodegradable crude, is an insult to all living things who thrive and survive at this point on the globe. Imported 'carpets' of synthetic grass are anathema to the spirit of this place. By using this product to cover the Living Earth, we are admitting our dominating dis-respect, dis-connect and dis-regard for ALL that sustains us daily.

Giving thanks during the harvest months is the antithesis of this superior 'attitude'. Giving thanks recognizes that we ARE a part OF Nature, not apart from it. Giving thanks expresses our gratitude for ALL living things that make OUR roots to this place deep and vibrant.

One such person who embodies this 'thankfulness' is Annie B. Her family lived and farmed what will become New City Park for nearly a century. Annie grew up on this escarpment land.

When Annie learned of the proposed 'changes' to the Park, she flew in from British Colombia earlier this summer to visit, one last time, what the land had always given her. her planetary ROOTS. The following photo of her shows a little hobbit-like creature meandering through the woods ... It may mean nothing to you, but to me, this shot embodies the solace and harmony that this landscape can bring. Annie is HOME here. And for that, she is most thankful.


Further to these thoughts, I've added a few images of the paintings & general 'messing about' I've been doing at my lakeside studio this summer ... And yes, I am most blessed. I too give thanks.

May you all have a warm and fulfilling Thanksgiving with your family, friends and loved ones. Thanks be too to the natural world that has - through its Life-Giviing Bounty - given us the bedrock- and benefits - so that we may all have a FULL life ....

New City Park - MLH Presentation to the Hearing

Here is the link to my presentation before the Environmental Review Tribunal, scheduled for October 5th, 2010, at Burlington City Hall, in Ontario, Canada. In it, I argue the reasons WHY 'synthetic grass' aka 'artificial turf' aka 'plastic grass' does not BELONG in New City Park, a 'new' park protected by the Niagara Escarpment Plan, and thus, now a part too of the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

It's a long dissertation, so, you might want to get a cuppa before you settle in ... link - here.

(For those who follow my 'other life', kindly note, that after this is over, I will be posting new summer work, so please come 'visit' again soon ... thanks. mlh)

Grass Roots Petition now on global CARE2 Petition Site

VOTE NOW - NO to the Pan Am Games in New City Park

A Grass Roots PETITION - Vote NO to the Pan Am Games in Burlington City Park!

... a vital and alive natural landscape ...

A Grass Roots PETITION has just begun -
Vote NO to the Pan Am Games in Burlington City Park

We have so little time to get this message 'up' and 'out' - venues are being finalized, monies are being spent - yet, we MUST TRY to be HEARD before it really is TOO LATE. Please -
Vote NO to the Pan Am Games in Burlington City Park

The 'new' Burlington City Park, the largest park in Burlington, is currently 'under construction' at Kerns Road and Dundas Street.. The Bruce Trail runs along its brow edge and Kerncliff Park is already there, in its south-western 'corner'. Located primarily on TOP of the Niagara Escarpment, it is home & haven to a wide variety of species - including wandering & wondering nature-loving humans ...

Most of this rural park land, though in the political boundary of Ward 1, butts up against Ward 3 and Ward 15 on top of the Niagara escarpment. This petition has been created to draw attention to the FACT that most Burlingtonians - let alone citizens all over the Golden Horseshoe region - have had little to no say about the impact this Pan Am 'venture' will have on THEIR park. It's not simply the park that's underway, it's the sneaky way the City has 'slipped' in the Pan Am Games ONTO the development of this PUBLIC land space.

After the rejection of Sherwood Forest Park in the urban core as the 'soccer' venue for the Games, by local residents, City Staff put forward the "remote" new 'City Park' to Burlington City Council.. Before the City could get the Pan Am 'bid' they had to convince and get the Niagara Escarpment Commission's 'approval'. This entire escarpment zone is locally known as unique, in many ways it remains 'untouched' and, as such, falls under the NEC mandate to preserve and protect it from inappropriate development.

When the City originally proposed the idea to the NEC in February of 2010, the NEC turned them down. The City's 'plan' encompassed 10,000 spectators, with seating for 8,500 plus all the necessary food, security, garbage, restroom and media/power facilties to accommodate such a large soccer-minded crowd. The NEC was rightly concerned that the size and scope of this kind of event would upset the natural equilibrium of the park. So, the City went away, and sharpened their pencils. On June 17th, they came back with 'revised' numbers for the NEC: Suddenly projected attendance had dropped from 10,000 to 5000 that only necessitated 'temporary' seating for 3500 with NO on-site parking for spectators. The crowds would be shuttled in by a 'temporary' transit system. They also said that when the Games were done, the whole 'event' would be dismantled and cleaned up. The NEC gave them the go-ahead.

HOWEVER, things just aren't adding up, and this should be of GREAT CONCERN to all those interested in maintaining ANY wonderful natural park on or near the magnificient Niagara Escarpment. During the City's June presentation to the NEC, City officials maintained that there had been numerous public consultations - including an 'Open House' in Ward 1, specifically about the Games, and that the "vast majority" there of "over 30 people" had voted in favour of the Pan Am Games. 30 people does not a 'majority' make! Meetings have been held about the PARK, not the Pan Am Games IN the park, and that's where something is starting to stink ...

What is becoming increasingly clear is that the City does not want another 'citizen rejection' of their big-ticket Pan Am scheme. The City has seemingly used the 'cloak' of public consultations about the PARK, not the GAMES, to inflate their 'public approval' numbers to the NEC, the media and the organizers of the Games. If people really HAD been properly informed and consulted about the IMPACT these games would have altogether, it is very unlikely that they would want them any more then did sensible residents of Sherwood Forest Park.

All Wards butting onto the park - Ward 1, Ward 3 and Ward 15 of Hamilton - should be better informed about this 'Over the Top' SPORTS SHOW that will be running for the summer of 2015.

City Park, as originally conceived, is, yes, IN PART, a recreational sports park, but increasingly it is being 'modified' and 'reshaped' to accomodate the mega-million dollar 'branding' ambitions of the Pan Am Games. This is NOT - when understood in full scope - what people ' pro the park' had bargained for.

In short, 'we' were not adequately informed or consulted, and 'we' are now being 'railroaded' into 'accepting' it, like it or not. Well, I, for one, am NOT accepting it. The need to accomodate so many - 5,000 or 10,000 or even 15,000 - will move the park so far away - conceptually - from what it SHOULD be, and what it was originally SOLD to us as, that it does now warrant this GRASS ROOTS 'citizen's protest'.

Please join with me andVote NO to the Pan Am Games in Burlington City Park

The new Burlington City Park is INAPPROPRIATE for the Pan Am Games.

Sign the PETITION -
Vote NO to the Pan Am Games in Burlington City Park

Thank you.
Margaret Lindsay Holton
A FRIEND of City Park
Golden Horseshoe Artist & Author

.. now a barren, scoured 'lot' ready for 'artificial grass' ...

Press Links:

http://thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/815278
Activist Artist wants Pan Am soocer stadium Venue Changed

http://www.insidehalton.com/news/article/853369--petition-aims-to-take-pan-am-games-out-of-new-city-park

http://www.insidehalton.com/opinion/letters/article/857531--put-pan-am-soccer-at-bayview-park-resident

Note: We held off the assault for ten months, but as of April 7th, 2011, we've 'lost'. The Ministry of Natural Resources has given City the 'go ahead', albeit with certain conditions. It's over. Plastic Grass is going into this park forever. For more info, and Spring Newsletter, link here -

The Hamilton Spectator Review of MEMORY'S SHADOW: The Exhibit

Jef Mahoney, Art Critic at The Hamilton Spectator newspaper, had this to say about my current pinhole & photo-collage photography show in the Perry Gallery at the Burlington Art Centre ... (He TOTALLY 'gets it'!)

http://canadadaphotography.blogspot.ca/p/press.html 

For directions to the BAC, link 'here'

To purchase THE BOOK, go the tab at the top of this blog, under 'MLH BOOKS' , or contact me directly at lyn holton @ gmail dot com . There are ONLY 50 in the 'Collector's First Edition'. When they are gone, that's it. Nada mas.

MEMORY’S SHADOW: Pinhole & Photo-Collage Photography by Margaret LIndsay Holton

If you just can't get to Southern Ontario before August 19th, I strongly advise getting a copy of the book 'MEMORY'S SHADOW: Pinhole & Photo Collage Photography' (as seen above) by moi.

With 55 never-before-seen additional images, (and an incisive 'fore-word' by Canada's very own OUTSTANDING documentary film-maker, Peter Wintonick), this hardcover BOOK really is a NATIONAL TREASURE! 

 With only 50 copies available in this 'Collector's First Ediiton' - priced at just $160 (plus tax) - it's a steal! 

Excellent review by Jeff Mahoney of the Hamilton Spectator - here.

Order below with Paypal and/or your credit card. 

UPDATE: As of November 2013, only 24 copies remain.

Book & Print $210.00 Book ONLY $160.00 Print ONLY (8x10) $320.00

Need help with this purchase? Contact -
  mlhpro at hotmail dot com

Exhibition ENDS August 19^th, 2010.