From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 2, 2006 1:48 AM
Subject: Fallen soldier laid to rest; La réduction du fardeau fiscal dans la mire du premier budget conservateur
Dear Stephen,
I’m so sorry for not writing you lately! I’ve been overwhelmed with
work, gallery, apartment stuff, the usual, but more than the usual. I
don’t even know where to begin to try to catch up, so I won’t really
bother, since you probably couldn’t care less.
But just so you know, the Stranger Theatre folks came into town, as
scheduled, and set up their show, and what Alice found there, and
rehearsed, and ran their van into the back of a BMW parked out in
front of the building, and then the following night one of them lost
her bag with passport, wallet, favourite trucker hat, etc. Some of
their performances were well-attended and others weren’t but good
discussions were had by all surrounding very strong performances.
In other news, Warren from Ottawa has finally tracked me down, or
finally remembered he had lent me paintings, and so I am looking for a
way to send him the crate. The bus won’t take it as it is 8 pounds too
heavy and Midland won’t accept artworks. Of course I was lugging an
eighty-pound crate around with me for half a day. It’s still sitting
in Judith’s truck. I’ll try FedEx tomorrow.
Thursday night was the Fusion dinner, which was fun, and included a
speech from the Premier, which was dull. Apparently he used the exact
same speech to a Board of Trade meeting a week earlier. His handlers
must have assumed, somewhat erroneously, that no Fusion members could
possibly also be members of the Board of Trade. Afterwards Claudine
and I accosted him and demanded better funding for the arts,
especially for the Art Bank, which has had the same budget for
collecting NB artwork that they did back in 1968.
The bar was crazy busy after the dinner and I worked late, getting a
late late table and getting home at almost 3 and sleeping in and
missing Judith’s speech at the Mindcare conference. I’m surprised she
keeps me as a friend sometimes. I did manage to fit a couple short
visits with Mary in the past week, which is better than nothing but
not as good as it could be. My parents were featured in the newspaper
on Friday about their upcoming cross-Canada cycling trip. I’m
gathering pledges for them. Want to pledge? Give as much as you’d
like, they have to raise $5-grand each. You can do it on the special
Canadian Bible Society website: http://www.bikeforbibles.ca/
Anyway, today I worked a bunch in the gallery, trying to get it
prepped for Kelly Mark. Meghan helped paint a bit in the evening and
we went to the Somerset to catch Dr. Strangelove. Claudine and I
cabbed home in the rain, a bit late, and now we’re both pooped. And
this isn’t even half the story but I’m too tired to get into it
further.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 2, 2006 11:41 PM
Subject: Good news budget; Harper tente de séduire l’électorat en prévision de la prochaine campagne
Dear Stephen,
I’ve just finished washing dishes and cleaning up after having peter and judy and danika and robyn over for supper. claudine cooked and amazing chicken in carrot juice and made homemade mushroom soup and
appetizers and homemade chocolate truffles, like the ones she made and brought over to kim and sams’ the other night; judith brought a homemade cheesecake and salad; peter brought wine; robyn brought his guitar and strummed various metal tunes; danika brought her bright personality.
So today. Budget day. I’ve read that the Canada Council for the Arts is getting an increase of $50 million over 2 years. Most artists and arts organizations in the country were asking for $150 million, a
doubling, since if you average out the past twelve years or so there hasn’t been much of an increase at all. But it’s better than nothing, I suppose.
Of course, that $50 million begins to pale compared to other elements of the budget, such as the cost of cutting the GST by 1%:
$8.6 BILLION over 2 years.
Cutting the excise tax on jewellery will cost $80 million over 2 years. I don’t even know what this means or does.
Here are a couple of my favourites:
“For various programs to enhance border security, national emergency response, a no fly list and arming border guards will cost $404 million over two years”.
“Preparing for a pandemic, $460 over two years”
Is that last one in millions of dollars or just regular dollars? Must be a typo in the press release. And at this point in the night, I can’t be bothered to search it out.
There is too much still to do with the gallery and the Kelly Mark show and looking at real estate. Yes, another house on the radar tomorrow. We really need to figure out our finances, and how best to proceed, leaving me and my horrible credit rating out of the equation.
Let’s see; I graduated in 1999. Does the Statute of Limitations apply to student loans? Or do I need to wait another couple years to declare bankruptcy? Or will Premier Bernard Lord forgive half my debt if I settle in NB?
I hear you are good with math. Will you help me with my taxes? I haven’t filed in a couple years. maybe three. It’s easier on a five-year plan, I find.
-chris
PS I donated to a new Robert Greenwald production called <ahref”http://iraqforsale.org/”>Iraq for Sale.</a> Maybe you could donate too? They’ll list your name in the credits.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 4, 2006 8:27 AM
Subject: Elevator cited in teen’s fatal plunge; René Préval n’est pas venu au Québec pour quêter de l’argent
Dear Stephen,
I have some advice for you: never buy electronic equipment at the
Bargain Shop! I bought two DVD players from the Bargain Shop! a couple
weeks ago for use in Kelly Mark’s exhibition. Well, yesterday I hooked
up the ceiling mount for the projector and when I tried it out the
quality was terrible. Luckily, I can return the DVD players for a
refund from the Bargain Shop!
(Usually I hate using exclamation points in letters; for example, the
Fat Guy writing restaurant reviews, but I believe in this case the
Bargain Shop! has one in the title)
Claudine and I looked at a house yesterday that we really like and
have put the wheels into motion to possibly make an offer. It’s not
listed yet so we might be able to deal away with realtor fees, but
there are still lots of renovations to do, but it is a sweet place.
We’ll take another look today with my dad. Look more into wiring and
stuff.
Kelly Mark arrived in town yesterday afternoon. She is convinced that
her artist-talk tonight will bomb because she gave one yesterday in
Moncton and whenever she does a talk back-to-back the second one
sucks. I’m sure it will be fine. Her work rocks.
I’m heading off to the gallery to play with some wires. And try not to
think of all the harm your budget does to the poor, immigrants,
natives, human rights activists, environmentalists, socialists and any
other manner of bleeding heart leftie. It just makes me mad. NORAD,
mandatory crime sentences, more prisons, ineffective tax rebates,
child care scams, the whole nine yards makes me angry.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: May 8, 2006 8:42 AM
Subject: Wily killer from U.S. remains in Canada; Jean Charest refuse de spéculer sur l’avenir politique de Mulcair et Paradis
Dear Stephen,
I apologize for not having written lately. Ever since the Stranger
people left I’ve been running around full tilt getting the gallery
ready for Kelly Mark. She arrived on Wednesday and was an absolute
pleasure to host; she’s as witty, sardonic and funny as they come.
There were lots of little technical bits to fix before the opening;
luckily techno-geek Greg H. came by and hooked up Porn for us, as we
were basically clueless as to how to get the five TVs all running from
one DVD player. Friday was an especially long day: woke at 7AM, had an
early financial assessment meeting with Cynthia to determine
Claudine’s qualifications for a mortgage (my qualifications are
basically non-existent), worked at the gallery all day, picked up a
rental car, replaced a faulty TV, tidied up all the cables, went to
work a the bar until 7PM, then collected Kelly, drove to Moncton, hung
out at her opening at Galerie Sans Nom until about midnight, and
continued drinking until about three in the morning at Nick and
David’s place. Was up at 8:30 the following morning to drive back,
return the car, set up the gallery and then head to work at the bar.
Saturday night Claudine and I had supper at Taco Pica and then I
worked the rest of the night, we had a fairly busy rush, nothing like
the Friday before, when Claudine and Peter were running around
nonstop, but decent for a Saturday. Sunday I slept in until noon, then
had the day to myself, as Claudine was at the Hooper studios making
our wedding bands, as well as other jewellery, at a workshop by Kate
Kerr. I wandered the city on my bike, enjoying the sunshine, taking
photographs and sitting on park benches. I picked up some groceries,
washed clothes and dishes, and cooked a few recipes from Laura’s
cookbook, pear pork, potatoes au gratin, endives with raisins. Later
on in the evening we watched a Czech movie about a woman, an aspiring
doctor in the city who has to go into hiding and marry a country
stranger because she is wanted by the Gestapo. It was a nice little
love story, full of great secondary and tertiary characters, nice
landscapes, slow pacing. It was nice to watch a movie at home. We
visited Tom and Melinda after supper to discuss their house; we are
still interested, but need to schedule this week visits by roofers,
electricians, and inspectors to provide estimates. We still like the
house, despite the amount of work that needs to go into it. We’re
still looking at other places as well; yesterday I checked out an old
place on Orange Street, selling for $169 000 but needs loads of work
as well. We’re actually right now on our way to look at another on
that street, a cute 2-unit with a carriage house in the back. I’ll
keep you posted as our housing adventure continues.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: May 11, 2006 1:14 PM
Subject: Tories weigh cost of foreign spy service; Le petit Jeremy a finalement chanté devant le pape Benoit XV
Dear Stephen,
Sorry again. We’ve been crazy busy with the house search. We’ve been
pre-approved—well, Claudine has—but my credit isn’t as terrible as I
had previously thought. Ironically enough, the RBC is advising me to
find a credit card I can put in my name to rebuild my credit, after
but there are so many steps to buying a house and we’ve been doing
some of them in backwards order. Today we last-minute cancelled a home
inspection because our new realtor advised us against it. basically
money out of pocket that could go to actual estimates by the
professionals that would be doing the work. At the house on Queen
Street we know, more or less, what the work is. What we don’t know,
and what a $350 inspection won’t tell us, is how much the work will
cost. Like $15,000 in electrical work, which was Wally’s ballpark
estimate. Yikes! And once we add up roof, plumbing and other
construction I’m sure our offer will be too low. If we offer. So the
search continues, and continues to burn up our free time, of which
there was little to begin with.
Jess is back from New Zealand, which will help workwise, but not until
next week. She fell from a horse which subsequently stepped on her
leg, so she is still healing. It is good to have her back; I’m looking
forward to splitting my time a little more equally among gallery, bar,
studio and home.
Claudine had a good friend from Louisiana visit the other night,
Nicole and her friend Valerie, on their way to Baie-St-Anne in NS.
They teach french there for the summer. Nicole made a great creole
dish and then the girls went salsa dancing at Neptunes last night.
That could become a weekly tradition for us as I am in sore need of
dance lessons.
Tomorrow is the Arts Summit all day, then guided visits of Kelly
Mark’s show, then work at the bar, then leaving early early Saturday
morning with my folks to drive to NS for my grandmother’s 80th
birthday party, with a stopover in Halifax for an AARCA meeting
(Atlantic Artist-Run Centres Association). Fun!
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: May 12, 2006 10:24 AM
Subject: ‘Made in Canada’ greenhouse plan?; Jeremy Gabriel a chanté au Vatican devant le pape Benoît XVI
Dear Stephen,
I’m at the Arts Summit, using the Fort Howe Hotel wireless, while
listening to yet another circular discussion on culture. If I hear the
word one more time I think a bacterial one will spout out of my eyes.
Oh great; Peter Asi-monotone is up again. His deadpan, dry delivery
would be more suited to a stand up comedy routine. When he talks about
arts and culture he’s more effective as a lullaby.
I’ll keep you posted throughout the day as we collectively work on a
“strategic investment plan” and identify methods to move the city
forward.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Date: May 14, 2006 11:01 PM
Subject: Michaelle Jean welcomed in Haiti; La directrice des communications de Harper défend l’attitude du gouvernement
Dear Stephen,
This has been a bit of a whirlwind weekend. Where shall I begin?
Friday afternoon we workshopped some ideas in smaller focus groups
that were then presented. The afternoon dragged on a bit and I walked
back uptown with Andrea along the harbour passage trail, commenting on
the lack of skilled graffiti. Then I was at work, helping Peter in the
bar, and alternating by going upstairs and helping Claudine with the
guided visits. We had a better turnout than I anticipated, giving
three tours in total. Claudine, Meghan and I each gave one. Then
Claudine and I worked the rest of the night in the bar, getting out
after 1:30 and realizing only then that I had given all my keys to
Meghan so she could open the gallery on Saturday, so we stopped by her
place to wake her up and get the car key back. We had to walk to
Elwoods and get her home number as they weren’t answering our knocks.
Would you answer your door at 2AM? Just a bit freaky. So we came home
and had a shower and were in bed by three and up again at 6 to pack
and hit the road, collecting my parents and heading to NS. Claudine
and I slept most of the way though I sleep fitfully at best in a car;
I jolt awake at almost every bump in the road, and there are many en
route. We arrived at my brother’s house before noon, then I took the
car and Claudine into Halifax, dropped her off for shopping and then
met the rest of the ARC gang at Dal for the AARCA lunchtime meeting at
the kids table. Wrapped that up quickly, picked up Claudine at I Love
Sushi and then hit the road to Lunenburg. Found the Lunenburg Arms
quite easily and mingled with a bunch of my grandparents friends and
neighbours and drank weak wine punch and hung out with members of the
family—my aunt Vicki, and cousins Erin and Matthew, who had come down
from Toronto, and uncle Andy, and Trevor but only for a bit as he and
Tamara had a wedding to attend to. It was a bit claustrophobic and
smelled of a strange mixture of seafood, gray hair and sweat. Went for
a walk and to the Knot Pub to wait for the rest of the gang to arrive,
which was quite a production when they did as all the tables had
filled up and there was quite a bit of negotiating to be done to find
everyone a place. The younger kids were more content to be at a table
by themselves. Food was good and the conversation lively. We went back
to my grandparents house in the evening for a nightcap, tea and coffee
and cake, and Claudine and I retired early, the earliest ever, I
think. We were exhausted. Up early this morning, Mother’s Day, and had
breakfast, then drove to Bridgewater, stopped at a very lame flea
market, then visited my other grandparents, and hung out with them
awhile, reminding my grandmother every now and again who we were, as
her Alzheimer’s is bad, then drove to Trevor and Tamara’s house in
Timberlea and watched Tamara keep good control over their new German
Shepherd pup, who at eight months is as big as I am now, and then we
hit the road again. Stopped in Sackville and ate at the Bridge Street
Café, very nice homemade grub and lemonade. And then drove back home.
Lots of time in the car and the air made all our throats dry. Now
we’re about to watch Capote; Claudine has just about finished In Cold
Blood.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 16, 2006 1:18 PM
Subject: Pit bull safe, loving pets, lawyer says; Michaëlle Jean appelle au changement des mentalités en Haïti
Dear Stephen,
I just came back from the St. Joseph’s hospital. I was having my back
and neck looked at. I’ve been experiencing a lot of pain in the neck
since yesterday. I figure it’s either from reading about all the evil
things your government is doing or planning to do, or it is from the
long drive on Sunday. Anyway, now I’m just waiting for the muscle
relaxants to kick in. And being at the hospital afforded me the
opportunity to pay a visit to Mary.
Yesterday we looked at a single-family house on Harding Street. It had
been bought for a song and completely re-done inside and out.
Unfortunately, the owners discovered at the end of all the renovations
that their house was inside the Heritage Preservation District, which
meant the vinyl siding and windows would have to go. This despite
having secured the building permits from the city; a classic case of
the right hand not knowing what the left was doing.
Now that we’re actively looking for a house, I can’t understand the
logic of sacrificing home efficiency in order to remain consistent to
a pre-1915 look. Seems like some flexibility could be in order. Maybe
I’ll attend some meetings.
We’ve secured a real estate agent. His name is Don and he’s on the
ball. I think he sold my parents their house almost twenty years ago.
We’re looking at a few more properties later today.
Last night we had raclette at Stephanie and John’s house on Duke
Street. We all ate outdoors, with a few of their friends and
roommates, despite the slight chill in the air.
Yesterday I also made a few rubbings and today plan to build
stretchers and get painting. It’s raining outside so a good day to
work inside.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 17, 2006 12:01 AM
Subject: Death knell for gun registry? La vérificatrice déplore des manoeuvres comptables au registre des armes à feu
Dear Stephen,
I found a new way to descend deep into a foul mood today: visit some
slumlords. Or rather, visit the slums they lord over. Have your plans
and dreams of fixing up and restoring property dashed upon the
stinking remnants of the rotting underbelly of society.
You wouldn’t believe the places we saw today; the sights, nor the
smells. I swear each place we saw reeked worse than the last. We saw
apartment buildings carved up in all manner of tortuous sizes, both
illegal and barely legal, apartments that most human rights
organizations would have no problems condemning. What surprises me is
not so much that the buildings themselves are not condemned but that
the owners (who often live out of province, or in the case of the
three-in-a-row derelict block, out of country, in Lebanon), actually
expect that people will pay decent money for structures that at best
should be torn down. It’s fucking criminal.
OK, I’m exaggerating, but only a bit. What annoys me is how wealthy
slumlords from other provinces can buy four unit apartment buildings
and try to re-sell for a profit less than three years later without
putting any work in the building. No new wiring or electrical, bad
appliances, tons of deferred maintenance, a rotting roof, rotting
windows, you name it. Oh, a new oil tank, big whup. And one tiny hot
water heater that is used by all four legal apartments and the illegal
one in the basement. How do arseholes like this get insured? You can
be sure that first-time aspiring homeowners such as ourselves will
have to jump through a gazillion hoops before finalizing a deal, yet
these jerks probably string along handfuls of places at a time and do
nothing more than collect rent checks. It’s fucking obscene.
Anyway, as you can probably guess it wasn’t the most productive of
days. It rained all day too. My back and neck were feeling better,
mostly numbed by the anti-inflammatories. Hopefully I will sleep a bit
tonight.
There’s a good half-dozen other things I could bitch and moan about,
from the Trinity Royal Preservation District to the lack of a server
at Beatty an the Bistro tonight, South End thugs and crackheads to
Saint John’s marks on the learning index, but I’m off to have a shower
before bed so consider yourself off the hook for now.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 18, 2006 5:52 PM
Subject: MPs vote to extend mission by two years; Une employée qui gagnait 34 000 $ chez Groupaction a rapporté 1 million $
Dear Stephen,
I hear you won a close vote in the House yesterday. I guess you could
thank a disorganized Liberal party, as they don’t seem to have the
clarity of focus (narrower vision?) than your own party. But what they
hey, what’s another two more years between friends in a foreign land?
Another two years of suicide bombings and dead Canadian soldiers, to
be sure, but it’s all good: somebody has to clean up after the US as
they busy themselves blazing a trail of hope and democracy through to
the Middle East.
Did anyone ever ask why the US didn’t just invade Saudi Arabia?
Wouldn’t that have been quicker access to oil? I mean, if Afghanistan
ever stabilizes Haliburton will have to build a gazillion miles of
pipelines to get their oil. I guess the exploration subsidies will
cover it.
I had a better day yesterday, though I was in a funk for the first
full half of it. I’m still driven half around the bend with anger for
slumlords, and the banks that just keep forking over the cash because
they’re obviously making a shitload off those shit holes.
Claudine and I went for a nice bike ride around the North End and
stumbled upon Peter Buckland’s place, which will be going up for sale
at the end of the summer, so he and Judy gave us a quick tour. It’s a
fabulous house but I’m suspecting it is a tad out of our price range.
I will buy a dresser from him though; they are having a whopping yard
sale next week, but we’ll miss it because we’ll be in Boston.
We cooked a massive soup last night and spent the evening reading to
one another. I’ve actually been in the studio off and on all day
yesterday and today and am actually making progress on *gasp* new
work. We’ll see if anything comes of it. It’s nice to have my
co-worker back; Jess covered last night and the early part of tonight.
I’m about to make supper and then head to work sporting my fancy new
haircut. My fifth or sixth in a row now from the amazing Cara Cole.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 20, 2006 11:43 AM
Subject: Soldier died in ambush; Harper voit d’un bon oeil l’idée de se joindre au Partenariat Asie-Pacifique
Dear Stephen,
I just had a brain flash (or burp), and realize now EXACTLY how
politicians at the federal level have dealt with, and are dealing
with, and will deal with, climate change:
It is a game of HOT POTATO!
Imagine the scenario this way: The seemingly indestructible Liberals
join a worldwide gaggle of semi-socialist countries in naming some
emission reduction targets for 2012, or some such date “in the
future”. They call this potato “Kyoto”. Then they actually INCREASE
emissions until booted out of power. The next government catches the
HOT POTATO of climate change and begin to drift to a DIFFERENT gaggle
of countries, with different targets. They change the name of the
POTATO to the Asia-Pacific Partnership or maybe “Made in Canada”.
Whatever.
What happens next?
HOT POTATO!
The Conservatives will lose a general election (maybe the next, but if
not then most likely the one after. Canadians generally get fed up and
pissed off at the conservative agenda after one or two terms,
remember? And our political monster doesn’t evolve fast enough to
allow for proportional representation to ever happen, thus relieving
us of our other game of HOT POTATO, that of federal two-party
politics, but that’s another game).
So with the Conservatives out once again, that will allow the Liberals
to ditch the Conservative HOT POTATO climate change program with
something else, also with unattainable targets, with a different name,
let’s call this one “Johannesburg”, thus passing the HOT POTATO again.
Continue this game indefinitely or until it becomes politically safe to suggest colonizing other dead planets, such as Mars, or simply sending humans out to live in space in big arks, thus fulfilling the dreams of SciFi writers everywhere, rather than cleaning up our own backyards.
Anyway, I’m off to open the gallery. I’ll probably write again later today with more rants, as well as more news, concerning some grants.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 21, 2006 12:57 PM
Subject: Soldier’s remains arrive in Canada; Les environnementalistes reprochent au gouvernement fédéral d’être hypocrite
Dear Stephen,
Had brunch yesterday with Claudine at Sebastians. Met up with Travis
at the gallery and we spent a good chunk of the afternoon organizing
the office. Next week when Peter removes the doors and lumber and
drywall and tools and old paint the office will actually resemble an
office. I’ve been updating the website and screwing it up at the same
time. Someday soon it will resemble a real website.
Work was really dull last night. No customers for the first few hours.
I read through the new Walrus. I took a long supper break at home,
Claudine made pasta, then came back and it was still dead. Jess was
researching Equine Facilitated Psychotherapy on the Internet. It
wasn’t until 11:30 when Clutch arrived with the liveliest party in
town in tow, Patrick Watt et al, loud and boisterous, that the evening
resembled anything bar-like. Then there were some late tables and next
thing I knew it was 2AM. Had a couple glasses of wine and talking to a
young couple who had never been away from Saint John—if one can
imagine such a thing—and who couldn’t understand why people from
away—Aman and Julie and Medi, pour example—want to live closer to
larger centres like Montréal or Vancouver. It’s called a city, people.
Those highly competitive places where 80% of Canada’s population
lives.Where things happen.
We just had brunch at Reggie. C’est normal. We’re about to meet up
with Katie and Rich to drive out to see Darren Emenau’s and Alexandra
Eaton’s studio sale in Brown’s Flats. Should be fun. It looks like a
great spot, quaint little farmhouses and hand-built kilns and loads of
sunflowers. On the website, anyhow. Mark and Janet have a gift
registry with Darren. Their wedding is in June. Later this afternoon
we’re heading to Moncton to catch the Claudia Quintet, a group from NY
performing as part of a new music festival hosted by Galerie Sans Nom.
I’m anxious to get working on a new body of paintings and other
matter. The news is also making me anxious so I’ll not read any more
of it today.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 23, 2006 1:54 AM
Subject: Ottawa mourns; Kyoto: Boisclair presse Charest de se dissocier de la position canadienn
Dear Stephen,
Happy Queen’s Birthday. Or Victoria Day, however they call it. I often
forget what holiday it is. Monday is typically a holiday for me
anyhow, at least from the bar. Today we borrowed Judy’s truck and
drove to Hampton to visit Fred Willard, a sculptor, and look over his
maquettes and some grant forms. He needs to raise some money to build
his biggish sculptures, articulated columns and cubes with broken
lines that light escapes from. All very post-minimal and fairly cool.
Speaking of which, the jazz band last night was excellent, we all
thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was certainly worth the drive and the
late-ish hour of return. There was a very appreciative, good-sized
turnout. The Aberdeen Centre is an amazing cultural space; it would be
nice to create one in Saint John.
We bought some pottery from Darren at his sale from his crooked little
farmhouse in Oak Point, just past Brown’s Flat. A nice riverside
drive. The mosquitoes are out already.
Today we looked at the house up the street again, getting a look at
the main apartment this time. We spent some more time trying to
imagine how we could re-shape it into a more workable, functional
space, to no avail. Plus the roof needs replacing, the wiring needs
upgrading and there is some problems with the foundation in the back
end. Too much work. The search continues.
We rented a couple films tonight. We would have liked to go to the
cinema but there just seems to be junk playing, nothing worth a bike
or bus ride to Hell’s Creation and back. There’s the Da Vinci Code but
we haven’t read the book yet. Probably won’t.
Here’s a question for you: if we have the CRTC enforcing Canadian
Content on TV and radio, how come not in movie theatres? It could cut
down on the glut of bad Hollywood films we’re all subjected too.
So tonight we watched The Yes Men, about those nutters that run around
impersonating WTO officials at conferences, and Where the Truth Lies,
a well-done whodunit by Atom Egoyan. Which I didn’t see in theatres
when it was released and can’t remember why.
‘Where the Truth Lies’ sounds like it should be about political
election campaign promises. Or just politics in general.
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 24, 2006 12:49 AM
Subject: Protesters remove barricade; Signe d’espoir: les autochtones lèvent leurs barricades à Caledonia
Dear Stephen,
Surprise surprise: I actually spent most of today in the studio (or
basement, if you prefer). Worked on some new frottage models and
experiments. Peter Buckland brought over the chest of drawers we had
bought from him. Claudine and I went for lunch at the Union Street
deli. Ils avait les bonne frites. Later in the afternoon we looked at
one of Phillip Huggard’s buildings on Orange Street. He owns the
Gothic Arches, a former church, now a multi-purpose venue, popular
with bands and dance and trampoline classes and weddings, as well as
fifty-four other properties in Saint John. I can’t exactly put my
finger on it, but there is something about that concentration of
ownership that bothers me. Especially when one considers the quality
of the properties. This one has a questionable foundation. Our agent
Don put the value at over $30 thousand less than he is asking for it.
So the search continues.
Tonight, after cooking a weak curry—it wasn’t my best attempt—we
wandered the South End on a bit of a derivé, visiting the train tracks
near Tin Can Beach and zig-zagging our way through some dodgy
neighbourhoods in the deep South. There was some Took some fun
photographs. Stopped at Elwoods for a beer. Listened to Ron rant about
his romances. Walked home. Found and lost a TV with a “For sale: $175”
sign on it. We wondered what was for sale since the TV was an old 13″
and obviously not in the best working order.
We had thought of heading to Hell’s Creation on bikes or by bus to use
our free passes to see the Da Vinci Code but we were too lazy to
bike—there are some stellar hills, but beyond that, many of the routes
are quite dark and not very bicycle-friendly—and the schedule for the
bus wasn’t thrilling. Plus neither of us are really into this movie
very much. It was much more fun to play atop freight trains and plan
future public art interventions.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 25, 2006 12:33 AM
Subject: Restaurant sombre after waitress’s death; Béchard tolère la coupe de bois sur les terres réservées au parc du Mont-Orford
Dear Stephen,
Today was a “wait in line” and “two steps forward, one step back” kind
of day. We borrowed my Dad’s car to run some errands. These included
dropping off our recycling (you already know how I feel about this)
and some clothes for the Sally Ann. Then it was off the Ritchie’s for
wood, then Hell’s Creation for fabric. I also finally returned the
digital camera to Future Shop because the cables aren’t working
properly. They have to send it back to the manufacturer for repairs so
I bought another camera to hold us over until the repairs are
finished. I waited a really long time. Future Shop always seems to
have more employees than shoppers but they tend to seem more absorbed
with conversations with each other or just constantly moving in and
out of doors. Doing what I have no idea.
You might also like to know that I finally returned to the Home Despot
the three cloth lampshades that for the past three months have been
either sitting on our living room floor or bouncing around in the back
of Judy’s Element. I managed to return them just before the 90-day
refund expired. It’s a miracle I didn’t lose the receipt during this
time. I’ve managed to misplace all my receipts from 2003-04, which is
why I haven’t done my taxes yet. I keep hoping that they will turn up
in the bottom of one of the two boxes I have yet to fully unpack.
I had a long conversation with Judy regarding Robyn. You don’t want
details. That kid makes me angry and sad. Forget child care for
babies, what parents need desperately is help with crazy teenagers. Is
there anything more disturbing than teenagers out of control?
I relieved Jess at the bar at 7Pm so she could massage a horse in
Brown’s Flat, and worked on the Third Space website updates, in
between talking to the three customers who came in. I closed early and
went for a quick Bowman’s at O’Leary’s with Meghan and Ben. He had
just finished baking a new NY cheesecake for Elwoods. Yummy.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 25, 2006 11:12 AM
Subject: Goddard’s sacrifice touches us all; Béchard tolère la coupe de bois sur les terres réservées au parc du Mont-Orford
Dear Stephen,
I totally forgot to complete a thought to you last night. The whole
“one step forward” comment was made in reference to the big-ass
five-foot square frame I built yesterday, stretching and stapling a
canvas over it before realizing I had put it together all wrong.
Despite not only knowing the maxim “measure twice, cut once” but
actually thinking it while I was screwing the wood together, I still
managed to overlook the details and put it together half backwards.
No big deal though. I pulled it all apart this morning and put it back
together. It actually afforded me the chance to paint a new background
on the canvas before re-stretching it and gluing the other bit of
canvas down over it. This one will be called “Northern Lights”, but it
will secretly be called “The Big Intestines”. Part of the ongoing “I
Am Canadian” series, featuring images of Tim Hortons, beer, hockey and
beavers. I’d like to figure out how to incorporate images of houses in
various stages of construction / destruction, as they have been
filling my dreams as of late. Last night I dreamt we bought an old
townhouse for $10 grand, began renovating and the thing burned down on
us one night. We all had to jump out a window into a snowbank, cats
too. Then we moved back in, continued the renovations, filling in the
“open basement”, if you can imagine what that looked like, and built a
specialty paper store in the ground floor, turning the whole street
into a sort of carnival.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 26, 2006 8:35 AM
Subject: Boxer Dave Hilton Jr. granted parole; L’ex-boxeur Dave Hilton sera libéré sous conditions le 20 juin prochain
Dear Stephen,
Spent the day working on studio stuff until running out of wood. But I
don’t really know what I’m painting. It’s an experimental phase. I’ve
put the portraits of you, and the last few of Paul Martin, on the
back-burner. We’ll see where this body of work goes.
Do you know Heather Button? She’s often at openings talking about her
art collection and all the gallery owners and curators (pronounced
“kir-aters”) she knows in Toronto (pronounced “terr-aunto”). She’s
originally from Saint John and has been sent here for periods of time
on advise of her doctors in Terr-aunto. I believe they might be
working in conjunction with the art world or the tourism industry
there. She came by the gallery and bar last night, bought a membership
and proceeded to talk at me for over two hours. Luckily Judith stopped
by the bar after a meeting and so did Peter and I was able to slip
away just before Jess arrived to relieve me.
Judith came over for a quick glass of wine and then Claudine arrived
from Yoga and made a yummy salad. We didn’t really have plans for the
evening so spent most of it talking about future plans; life here,
buying a house, art, work, money, you know, the future.
In the immediate future I’m going to buy more wood and clean the apartment.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 28, 2006 8:56 PM
Subject: Congolese community mourns; Québec solidaire dénonce la politique énergétique du gouvernement Charest
Dear Stephen,
We woke up really early this morning, after getting to bed late, and I
packed, and we loaded the car, and we were off. About an hour into the
drive I remembered that I had left all my US currency at home. D’oh!
That was what I started writing yesterday, after getting into the
motel near Old Orchard Beach.
Now we’re at the International Hostel in Boston and we’re about to
head to Cambridge for a late supper.
I’ll write more later. Suffice to say we’re safe, we’re sound, we’re
slightly burnt, freshly shaved and a bit raw in spots.
Damn, there appears to be jam on my screen.
God Bless America.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 29, 2006 1:01 AM
Subject: Congolese community mourns; Québec solidaire dénonce la politique énergétique du gouvernement Charest
Dear Stephen,
I’m back at the hostel but can barely keep my eyes open I’m
travel-weary and exhausted. The heat / sunshine is strange and unusual
and I’m not used to it, nor was I expecting it, despite having read
the weather reports, I still managed to forget my shorts and 3/4 pants
and sandals at home. Luckily we found the H&M near Boston Common and
that settled the shorts issue. Flip-flops I bought in Old Orchard.
They are currently tearing my feet to ribbons.
And what is it with near excellent expanses of beach and ocean that
inspires people to build the crassest arcades and amusement parks and
kitch emporiums? Why even go to the beach if you’ll be bored of it in
ten minutes.
We hiked in Acadia National Park on Saturday. I bought hiking boots in
Bar Harbor, a cute little tourist town, but not nearly as bad as
Niagara or Old Orchard. The hike was amazing. That park is so
well-tended.
I’ll post a few of our travel photos to the blog. I’m too tired to
write more so the photos will have to do. Supposedly they are each
worth a thousand words.
-chris
From: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 30, 2006 1:39 AM
Subject: Big question; Ignatieff veut “tuer les vaches sacrées” du Parti libéral du Canada
Dear Stephen,
Another hot day in Boston. We started the day off early moving the
car, avoiding an overnight $10 parking charge, driving to Cambridge to
park Yaris (the name of our loyal rental who often finds the way to go
with no help from either of us), walking back across the Harvard
Bridge.
Hot and sweaty and full of vacationers, both locals and tourists.
Today was memorial Day, so there were parades everywhere, though the
only parades we saw were throngs of shoppers. Visited Faneuil Hall,
the markets, the buskers. There was a really dynamic breakdancing
troupe visiting from NY, the Transformerz. They really worked the
crowd and finished their set by jumping and flipping over a line of
tots. A source of great amusement for both the crowd and the
performers.
So, like “When in Rome”… we did our patriotic duty and shopped some
more. Found yet another H&M after a pot of tea on Newbury, wandered
through the Gardens, rested on the grass, followed the Freedom Trail
until the market, Claudine found wicked sandals and then we stopped
for chowder at the Union Street Oyster House, a real old restaurant.
The clams were sea-salty and the chowder super creamy. The sun most
likely curdled it in our stomachs.
Oh! I found a John Fleuvog’s after taking the very sophisticated above
ground/below ground subway back to Newbury, and bought myself a nice
new pair of dressy-ish shoes. I think I am now officially shopped-out.
So tonight we took the subway to the fun neighbourhood of Brookline
and watched a sold-out screening of “The forbidden planet” at the
ultra-cool art-deco cinema the Coolridge. The screening began with a
talk from an MIT robotics prof discussing the differences between how
Robbie the Robot was portrayed in the 1950s and how robots are being
built today. He ended his presentation with the hopes that we will all
have our own personal robots since the population is going to age so
rapidly and there will not be enough workers to care for everyone.
Optimistic.
Anyway, Boston so far is fun, tiring, hot, busy, flat, animated and
fun. It’s a good fix of bigger city life. We wandered back around the
neighbourhood near the hostel and stumbled on a swanky bar/restaurant
with a “wine room” in the basement and a mega-extensive wine list, and
had a glass of pinot noir and petite syrah. Made plans for the next
few days to see more galleries, maybe the MASS MOCA, something,
anything to counteract the effects of so much shopping.
-chrisFrom: chris lloyd <dearpm@gmail.com> Mailed-By: gmail.com
To: pm@pm.gc.ca
Cc: christelle alin <alin@villa-arson.org>
Date: May 31, 2006 1:39 AM
Subject: Premiers seek delay on passports; Le gouvernement Harper propose des mandats de huit ans pour les sénateur
Dear Stephen,
Today was an art day. We were up early, grabbed a quick coffee and
toasted bagel from the hostel to go, and then we were off. First we
wandered through some community gardens, then checked out Fenway Park,
then we had to return a defective bra to H&M. On the way there a
sandal I had bought yesterday broke, and so we returned that too. What
quality! And I’ve already managed to spill red wine on a new shirt.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Eventually we wandered down to the
South End; SoWo. Had a great breakfast/brunch and then started seeking
out the galleries. It took some digging and searching but we found
some decent stuff. A good sculpture show. Then we walked through
Chinatown to catch a red line to Cambridge to catch another art show,
which meant more walking, then a bus ride, then ice cream, then a
subway, then a quick shower back at the hostel, then we were off to a
book reading in Brookline. Author Michelle Goldberg read from her new
book “Kingdom Coming”, all about extreme right-wing Christian
Nationalism. Scary stuff.
Of course, It’s all very inspiring at the same time: Lots of people,
lots of events, a bustling city, more restaurants than it is possible
to choose, galleries, art studios—in SoWo a city developer rents
studio spaces to hundreds of artists and craftspersons as the area is
revitalized. The energy is intoxicating and inspiring.
Then we went for beers and watched the ‘Sox and the ‘Jays battle it
out on TV, just before heading back to the Coolidge Corner Theatre for
a screening of “Art School Confidential”. But what a disappointment!
Daniel Cowles has totally dropped the ball. Despite having a ton of
material (and stereotypes!) to work from, he settles on a bland
murder-mystery and the slimmest, most 2-dimensional characters ever to
grace the silver screen. The highlight came when I totally misplaced
our wine bottle, missing the cup-holder and creating a large crash.
Very humorous and fitting. The movie was so bad it drove us to bumming
a cigarette and smoking before catching the train back to the hostel.
We’re heading out early tomorrow morning to the Mass MOCA, providing
Yaris has not yet been towed. We left him near MIT a couple days ago.
-chris
DEAR PM 