Crash!

Just two days after installing the newest Apple OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion in my 27” 2TB iMac the computer crashed. I was cut off from over 300 GB of valuable data, much of it not backed up. Two hours on the telephone with AppleCare did not solve the problem. I was referred to an Apple Store where the computer was expertly repaired in a day without loss of data.

This has been a learning experience. I have meanwhile learned how to use Time Machine (which I did not previously understand) and am now fully backed up in both computers that I use.

student choreography

Canada's National Ballet School

Stephen Godfrey Choreographic Workshop

A programme of 16 short works was choreographed by students aged 14 to 19, and danced by same ages. The pieces were diverse, interesting, mostly contemporary style, often surprisingly intricate. Every emotion at some point was touched on. The quality of dance was certainly admirable and a pleasure to watch.

Arma virumque

The student shooter apprehended in Aurora, CO legally possessed two .40 calibre Glock handguns, an AR-15 assault rifle, a Remington 12 gauge shotgun, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

What questions does this raise? In the US apparently not many.

Bill Maher

It's never the right time to talk gun control in America — we go right from "too soon" to "it's forgotten".

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New York Times, 24 July 2012:
Surveys show support for gun control has never been lower. An annual Gallup poll of the issue in October last year found that for the first time, a majority, 53%, opposed a ban on semiautomatic guns, or assault rifles, and a record low 26% favoured banning handguns. Support for stricter laws was down in all subgroups, with 64% of Democrats favouring stricter laws, 37% of independents and 31% of Republicans.

Right now, after the Aurora shooting, gun sales have been escalating in Colorado and throughout the United States. Yet there has been not the slightest move to control arms in the US.

President Obama has been vaguely calling for better vetting of persons who have weapons, and observing that assault weapons belong in the military, not on the streets. The most vocal and consistent call for change comes from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the affiliated Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

Alone in a crowd

Bronze Crowd (1990-1991)
Magdalena Abakonowicz (Polish, 1930 - )

The installation of 36 figures, each a bit different, is in Dallas, TX where I was in November 2003.

Fête nationale française

I think that the annual military parade on the Champs Élysées is a splendid public occasion for the display of national pride. The President of the Republic is also very much in view, each with his distinct style. This year there was emphasis on alliances with a UNO contingent opening the parade, and German battalion with flag passing in review for the first time.

I must reflect on the pitiful event that Ottawa musters on 1 July. At least the fireworks are impressive.

Vive la France!

new blog site

I was distressed to find that blogger.com has blacked out a lot the illustrations to my posts without explanation. Some, not all, were posters of movies that I reviewed or commented on. As protest I shall mainly discontinue posting at this site. Instead I plan to make use of my own:

                                                     http: lewis27.ca/blogspot

at Toronto garden show, 22 March 2012