The
doctrine which, from the very first origin of religious dissensions, has
been held by bigots of all sects, when condensed into a few words and
stripped of rhetorical disguise, is simply this: I am in the right, and
you are in the wrong. When you are the stronger, you ought to tolerate
me, for it is your duty to tolerate truth; but when I am the stronger, I
shall persecute you, for it is my duty to persecute error. -Thomas
Babington Macaulay, poet, historian, and politician (25 Oct 1800-1859)
 |
| … and yes, there is dog hair under the bed sheet. |
Thank you Branko for a fun evening of food, wine and bridge! Thank you for hosting and for for cooking that delicious lamb!! Great to see everyone again. Hope you wound your way home OK Ed. And Pat, thanks of organizing once again...great to catch up...oh and hope that the shoe rack was still there this morning! Cheers. Janet Thanks Branco, I have to agree with everything that Janet has said.Thanks Janet for the great dessert and Pat for coming into town. Lots of fun. Till the next time. Ed
Gang, Yes it was fun. Thank you all. Janet, you are on permanent dessert duty! We should try to do do this again, as there are 3 of us, (without the Pentictonian), and I am sure we can scare up a 4th … although I don’t know how we will fare without Patrizzio’s essential colour commentary! Anyway, ’til next time! I am on dog sitting duty the rest of the week - 4 kids aged 27-39, no grand kids, just one dog - but an awesome one! Branko
Hello Mutual Admiration Society Members! I
echo Ragin's phrase, "Belated Response", inasmuch as I must apologize
for not sending along my thanks, sooner, for fabulous evening, more than
scrumptious, wonderfully delectable dinner, delish, delish dessert and
wine/Bourbon aplenty. However, I cannot say that the Bridge Gods smiled
upon me, preferring Freewheelin' Fast Eddy above all! It didn't help
matters that my various partners seemed to act in concert to prevent me
from making any contracts, thereby elevating Corky to Numero Uno! Alack
and Alas!!!
Still, I may well have an opportunity to wreak
vengeance during the week of November 8th. I have a medical appointment
that day and will probably drive into Vancouver on November 7th so if
you folk would like to play again, let me know which evening might work
best and we can take things from there.
All went well on drive
back home. Highway was clear although there was some snow on the
shoulders, mainly around Manning Park. Sunny and lovely Fall colours, of
course. Thanks very much for ride home, Penguin. Back oat Burns, Chloë was absolutely chuffed with shoe rack and sends her thanks, Janet.
Must
away as I've a load of firewood to collect from a friend here in town.
How I miss Ragin''s truck, [Not Ragin' and his malt swillin' ways, I
hasten to add!], to transport such a load. Fondestos from Lady Dar, to one and all. Cheers, Il Conduttore! Pics:
Ragin' Bull's Restaurant and Bridge Parlour; Duke and Etta taking care
of Lady Dar last night! All she needs now is Juno! Shoe rack already put
to use!
Had not been riding for more than a week although I did use the ellipitizer at the FCCC for all but a few days while we were volunteering at the VWF. As we didn't reach home until close to 6:00 pm, yesterday, I needed to do quite a few household chores, once back, so I wasn't able to head out until just after 2:00 pm. It was fairly breezy with the wind, blowing pretty steadily, out of the S at around 18 kph, perhaps slightly more when gusting. We were hosting bridge this evening so I knew I had to be back around 5:00 pm to be ready for the gang. Furthermore, there were really dark, angry clouds gathering in the west, over Summerland, so I wondered if rain was in the offing. Turned out to be so and I'd only been on the road for about twenty minutes when the drops started. Never really poured, more of a heavy, steady mist but the wind was chilly so I was pleased I had worn full gloves and my rain jacket, which not only kept me dry but cut the bite of the blasts to ensure I was comfortably toasty.
Had toyed with heading into the wind, to OK Falls, once I'd completed the PTC/Lakeshore/Riverside Loop but once the rain started I didn't feel like facing Eastside Rd in case the heavens really opened. This being the case I concentrated on gerbilizing on the Power Street Loop and then when that circuit had allowed me to chalk up about 21 km I turned my attention to the Memorial Arena Loop and was pleased that the rain stopped on the first hamster loop. Logged almost two-thirds of the required distance there until I could head down Westminster, partially sheltered from increasingly strong gusts, to wend my way to White. Roads had dried out nicely by then and I only needed a few dispsy doodles on two of the side streets before Burns before I pulled into the back lane. Home in plenty of time to shower and change before the card sharks started to arrive. Map and Stats for ride:
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2193579823#.WfFnxNKEQH4.email
Olga
Polga was first to arrive, followed shortly by Madcap Michaelo who
brought along a delicious Black Forest-like cake. Great to see him as he
has been away for most of the summer so he had not played with us for
months. Barbarella was last to knock on the door and then we sat down to
draw for partners. [Lady Dar had plenty to do with her Caroling for a
Cause Grandmothers for Africa project so she was not fussed about not
playing.] After four hands we switch and after three rounds we tallied
scores to see who would play last round. Madcap and I were top scorers
so we, as "winners", took on the "losers". Had all the cards again so
The Sisterhood were whining and whingeing. To put balm on their wounded
egos I included them in bridge prizes: containers of turkey soup I'd
made the day before! No complaints now and everyone went home with
smiles on their faces.
Dear Food & Beverage Crew Captains: THANK YOU SO MUCH for serving as crew captains on F&B this year, especially with
changes in staffing along with those in F&B service and organization. While
events are still fresh in our minds, this is the best time to pass on
any feedback you have about our just-concluded 30th Vancouver
Writers Fest!
Anything
you can share about what went well with volunteers and the staff you
worked with, what was challenging, what can be improved…
all that is welcome now. If there were particular volunteers who you feel aren’t suited in the role you observed and oversaw them in, let me know. Also
if there were particular volunteers who impressed you and who might be
usefully directed to leadership positions in future festivals,
let me know that as well.
If
there are changes/adjustments you’d like to see in terms of numbers of
vols needed per shift, reporting time and shift end time, as well
as shift duties and staff liaison, please write it down now and let me
know!
And
if there’s anything else which Michelle and I can do to improve how
volunteers serve the festival and F&B’s set-up/strike needs for
coming
years, let me know that as well. THE SOONER THE BETTER, as always. If at all possible please submit any feedback no later than
Monday Oct 30th. I’ll
be starting my final report soon and really count on getting feedback
from crew captains to write the best and most helpful report I
can so we can best plan for next year.
Kathryn
As a Crew Captain for the Brunch and Tea I must say that I was extremely embarrassed at the food and drink which was offered for a not insignificant price. I would not pay the cost of the ticket for such events. I cannot believe that the VWF would short-change its patrons by serving such a minuscule amount of homous, per esempio. Tubs of it are available for next to nothing! Baby Duck for sparkling wine with OJ! I used to drink BD when I was five years old! The carrots, cauliflower and celery were fine as far as vegetables go, but cannot the VWF do better? Why not make the event something to be proud of? Further to this, why serve wine, for most of the events, in small plastic containers? [If the VWF cannot afford glasses, let patrons know that they should bring their own wine glasses. Make it more of a party and picnic atmosphere] This is simply ridiculous. The Festival is nickle-and-diming its way into extinction if this is the policy that is deemed to be the one to follow. People want to enjoy themselves and the authors/readings do just that but the ambience is critically important as well. I believe that every event, to the extent possible, should be a gala affair, and spending not all that much more, in terms of budget, will make it a far more enjoyably experience for festival goers and probably make them wish to return. I overheard numerous comments by disgruntled guests who were extremely upset with the fare provided. This has nothing to do with the managers responsible for the menu, as delivered. As I understand it, severe budgetary constraints limited what was to be offered. If it is felt that the Brunch and Tea are too expensive for the VWF to host, well and good. However, if these events are to continue, do not short-change patrons who come expecting value-for-money.
The VWF has a magic formula with its authors, setting and volunteers. However, patrons must be considered. From my perspective they were offered a shocking disservice, in terms of the the fare proffered, for both the Brunch and Tea this year. Why? To what end? Life is far too, too short to drink Baby Duck! Finally, perhaps a cafeteria style service might work better for the dispensing of food at the Brunch and Tea so that "expensive" items could be better monitored if the Budget Police are overly fussed about costs. In fact, the majority of people will not abuse the offerings so rest easy, Bottom Liners! I certainly wish the Festival well, but as a long-time volunteer, I am extremely unhappy about the direction the Festival seems to have taken. Any endeavour takes an inordinate amount of time and energy to bring to fruition but don't believe that this will happen if purse strings are tightened to a degree which makes no sense and renders the body politic a shade of what it ought to be. Onward! Fight!!!
