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Arts

In the Great White North, Canadian Hosers get Bronzed EH!

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Canadian Hosers get Bronzed EH

Sometimes dreams do come true for Canadian Hosers. After a long eight-year journey, Second City Television, (SCTV) and Canada’s most famous, “stubby” beer drinking, bacon eating, tuque wearing brothers, Bob and Doug McKenzie, played by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas, now have two life sized bronzed statues install in downtown Edmonton’s ICE District. Sadly, with no fanfare, no press release, a cancelled public unveiling with the stars-because of the Covid- 19 pandemic, the official unveiling event, for this beautiful work of art created by Edmonton Sculptor Ritchie Velthuis and produced by Calgary’s Bronzart Casting Ltd., will have to wait for future unknown date.

Second City Television, SCTV’s Bob and Doug McKenzie AKA Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas (R) on the set of the Great White North in their heyday. Photo by/SCTV Handout

SCTV CLASSIC; Bob and Doug McKenzie, Great White North’s Donut Shop Parking episode. YouTube direct link

It started in late 2011 with a golden idea by Avenue Edmonton magazine publisher Orville Chubb and the magazine’s editor Steven Sandor. Then, in the January 2012 edition of Avenue the first public exposure for “a petition” was printed in a column about the farfetched idea asking, “How about a prominently placed sign welcoming people to Melonville? A bronzed Bob and Doug, sitting on a park bench in Churchill Square? A simple plaque? Or maybe a ceremony, festival or annual party?”

Sandor pined about how, “Small towns do it. Big cities do it. But, in Edmonton, we don’t mark our pop culture.” He continued his argument, “If you are an Oilers legend, you get roads named after you”, and a bronze statue! Sandor widen his pitch on how in Minnesota in honour of hometown hero Charles Schulz, you can find Peanuts characters statues sprinkled around the Twin Cities; in fact there are over 100 statues of just Lucille (Lucy) van Pelt, most of them are five-foot tall fibreglass ones, but still. Sandor continued, “in downtown Minneapolis, you’ll find a statue of Mary Tyler Moore to honour Mary Richards”, the TV associate producer she portrayed. And, “In Toronto’s Kensington Market, you can sit next to a statue of actor Al Waxman, CBC’s famous King of Kensington.”

It wasn’t long after the magazine hit the street that Sandor and Chubb thought the idea could actually, “take off, eh”, he expands, “My phone started ringing, I would get e-mails, so many fans would telling me stories about meeting the stars, having them shooting in their neighbourhoods, so many fond memories.” Sandor doesn’t remember any negative feedback.

SCTV’s Bob and Doug McKenzie painted bronzed statuses designed by Edmonton sculptor Ritchie Velthuis’ are seen in place at new home on the southwest corner of the Stantec Tower at 103 Ave and 103 St., in the city’s Ice District. Photo by Tom Braid/todayville.com (*Picture free to use must credit as shown*)

Now the hard part, the non-profit SCTV Monument Committee was formed, which included an original producer for the star-studded SCTV TV show that stills lives in Edmonton, “We had no idea how much work had to be done, we had to create an official non-profit group, the money, the city’s rules for building and permanently placing a statue and so much more.”  Sandor continues, “So many helped us over the years, Allard Foundation and Westbury Foundation for funds, the city was great over the years, OEG and the Ice District for giving us the final place to install Velthuis’ incredible work.”

SCTV’s Bob and Doug McKenzie painted bronzed statuses designed by Edmonton sculptor Ritchie Velthuis’ are seen in place at new home on the southwest corner of the Stantec Tower at 103 Ave and 103 St., in the city’s Ice District. Photo by Tom Braid/todayville.com (*Picture free to use must credit as shown*)

The fictional TV brothers and real life-long friends stayed involved and wanted to “have a voice in the project”, Multi-award winning actor Dave Thomas (70), who played Doug McKenzie talked with Edmonton Journal’s Fish Griwkowsky, “Rick and I were both surprised and honoured at these statues of the McKenzie brothers,” Thomas told the paper. “Despite the time that has passed, we both hold dear the memories of working at the ITV Studios – with the rest of the cast and the Edmonton folks who worked behind the scenes on the SCTV show with us.”

The original public unveiling was to happen before the Edmonton Oilers game against the San Jose Sharks on March 27th. Thomas confirmed, “For obvious reasons that has now been postponed.” He promised when safe travel is allowed, “We will return to Edmonton to see these statues in person.” There are no current plans or date for a public unveiling.

The Covid- 19 situation is very close to the Sandor home as they have been in voluntary quarantine after they received a call from Alberta Health Service (AHS) that someone at their child’s school tested positive for the virus and had attended the same book fair as they did. Sandor is happy to report, “Everyone is fine, we have no systems and the quarantine for us ends on the 27th.” While he is only a “little disappointed”, he was not able to make the Tuesday afternoon installation, “We (the committee) are all very sad that Orville did not live to see the fruition of the project, he was a big part of this.” Sandor explains with a hush to his voice, “He passed away from a massive heart attack in the summer of 2018, he was only 57…..”

SCTV Classic Great White North episodes, featuring Bob and Doug McKenzie, AKA by Rick Moranis(r) and Dave Thomas. Posted in a 20 minute YouTube compulation posted by member, Matt Regimbald

Aside from Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas who played the funny talking, two bacon stained, beer drinking McKenzie brothers; there are other famous alumni that worked in Edmonton through the years of production, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Harold Ramis, and Tony Rosato.

This SCTV YouTube channel has a great collection of over 40 videos.

SCTV had a star-studded cast in Edmonton through the years. Left to right, Catherine O’Hara, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, John Candy, Eugene Levy, sitting Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas and Martin Short.

Responding to the question, with so many award-winning, iconic SCTV alumni from the Edmonton years, are there any more single or a group statue in the future? Laughing out loud, “Oh NO, after all the work, time, money and what it took to get these two completed, my wife would kill me if I got involved in another statue project.”

Editors’s note; Never say never. Like Steve explained in his first 2012 Avenue magazine column on the McKenzie Brothers statue idea, other cities big or small do pop culture statues to honour those that were born there or made their name there and moved on. And looking on the bright side of things, rumour has it that Daryl Katz is a big SCTV fan. Given his age, 58 is perfect to be a teenager and young man when SCTV was at it height of popularity, which was also the same time the Edmonton Oilers were on their rise to the top of the National Hockey League (NHL). So for fans that would like to see a group of bronze statues; here hoping Mr. Katz reads this!

While the Ice District already has some beautiful public art pieces on display, there is still a lot of inside and outside space around the district.

Inside Ford Hall, gaze down at the the 14-metre circular mosaic designed called, Tsa Tsa Ke K’e – Iron Foot Place by Alex Janvier. Photo Courtesty/Dwayne Martineau, Laughing Dog/City of Edmonton

Edmonton’s 200+ Public art are either gifted, donated, created to commemorate a special event, or commissioned through the Percent for Art Program, which allocates a one per cent (1%) budget for the acquisition of art of the eligible construction budget for any publicly accessible municipal project. In the McKenzie Brothers statues’ case, they were gifted to the city by the non-profit SCTV Monument Committee.

MeTV in Chicago put together an interesting list, 11 bronze statues of TV celebrities and where to find them. Interesting list for sure, especially the Leonard Nimoy’s Spock bronze bust that is in Vulcan, Alberta.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RECHKdQIumY&w=508&h=381]

Never say never. In late February 2020, headed up by the Heart of London Business Alliance, “Scenes in the Square” was unveiled inside London’s famous Leicester Square in celebration of the square’s 350th birthday. The project, saw a massive addition of nine new life-sized bronze statues, adding to the one pop culture Charlie Chaplin bronze that has stood alone in the square since 1979. With help from donations from family, estates and movie studios they were able to add bronzed versions of Mary Poppins, Mr. Bean, Gene Kelly, Bugs Bunny, Laurel and Hardy, Paddington Bear, Wonder Woman and Batman.

Why not Edmonton? What do you think Mr. Katz? 😉

Thoughts? drop me a line; [email protected]

SCTV’s Bob and Doug McKenzie painted bronzed statuses designed by Edmonton sculptor Ritchie Velthuis’ at 103 Ave and 103 St., in the city’s Ice District. Photo by Tom Braid/todayville.com

Notes from Flight 163, the oilsands shuttle from Toronto to Edmonton

Arts

The Negation of Reality in Roald Dahl’s Literary Classic

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From the Brownstone Institute

BY Thorsteinn SiglaugssonTHORSTEINN SIGLAUGSSON

Last weekend it was reported how books by the popular children’s book author, Roald Dahl, are now being republished after significant changes to the texts. According to The Guardian, the changes are only about removing “offensive language” from his books. The Roald Dahl Story Company says the changes are minor and only about making the text more accessible and “inclusive“ to modern readers.

Gerald Posner covered the issue on February 19th, citing a few examples of changes, which are certainly not minor; entire paragraphs are removed or altered beyond recognition. There are hundreds of changes, Posner says, agreeing with writer Salman Rushdie who has called these changes “absurd censorship.”

Nick Dixon has published a short piece on the matter in the Daily Skeptic, pointing out how some of the changes make Dahl’s text lifeless and flat and how all humour is carefully removed. Example from Matilda: “Your daughter Vanessa, judging by what she’s learnt this term, has no hearing organs at all” becomes “Judging by what your daughter Vanessa has learnt this term, this fact alone is more interesting than anything I have taught in the classroom.”

In other cases, the meaning simply disappears: “It nearly killed Ashton as well. Half the skin came away from his scalp” becomes “It didn’t do Ashton much good.” Some of the changes are outright absurdly silly, considering when the original text was written. One example Dixon takes: “Even if she is working as a cashier in a supermarket or typing letters for a businessman” becomes “Even if she is working as a top scientist or running a business.”

“Mother” becomes “parent,” “man” becomes “person,” and “men” become “people.” “We eat little boys and girls” becomes “We eat little children.” Boys and girls have no right to exist anymore, no more than mothers or fathers; biological sex is prohibited. But the censors, sarcastically called Inclusive Minds, don’t seem to be bothered by the practice of eating children.

References to authors currently banned for unfashionable beliefs are removed or changed. Joseph Conrad becomes Jane Austen. Rudyard Kipling becomes John Steinbeck.

Nothing is mild enough to escape the watchful eyes of the censors, Dixon says, noting how “Shut up, you nut!” becomes “Ssshhh!” and “turning white” becomes “turning quite pale.”  To the “inclusive,“ “white“ is a forbidden word of course.

Suzanne Nossel, president of the American branch of the PEN writers’ organization, expresses her dismay in an interview with the Washington Post“Literature is meant to be surprising and provocative,” Nossel says, explaining how attempts at purging texts of words that might offend someone “dilute the power of storytelling.”

Roald Dahl is by no means uncontroversial. But his stories are the actual stories he wrote. The watered down and sanitised texts of the censors are simply no longer the author’s stories.

Or, as Posner concludes: “Words matter. The problem is that the Dahl sensitivity censorship sets a template for other hugely successful author franchises. Readers should know that the words they read are no longer the words the author wrote.”

The destruction of Roald Dahl’s books is yet another sign of the all-pervasive negation of reality we now face. We see this negation all around us, in literature, history, politics, economics, even in the sciences. Objective reality gives way to subjective experience, emotions, or preferences in place of what is true.

It gives way, in fact, to radical subjectivism, which might just be the logical, yet contradictory conclusion of the victorious march of individualism in the West over the past few decades. It gives way, until all our common points of reference are gone, until our common sense has all but disappeared; until, atomised, lonely, incapable of meaningful communication, we no longer share a society. What takes its place will surely be no fairy tale.

And what better example of this negation of reality than the Guardian’s headline, whereby the total destruction of the work of a beloved author becomes “removing offensive language” in a few places?

Republished from the author’s Substack

Author

  • Thorsteinn Siglaugsson

    Thorsteinn Siglaugsson is an Icelandic consultant, entrepreneur and writer and contributes regularly to The Daily Sceptic as well as various Icelandic publications. He holds a BA degree in philosophy and an MBA from INSEAD. Thorsteinn is a certified expert in the Theory of Constraints and author of From Symptoms to Causes – Applying the Logical Thinking Process to an Everyday Problem.

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Arts

Visitors can see famed Florence baptistry’s mosaics up close

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By Francesco Sportelli in Florence

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Visitors to one of Florence’s most iconic monuments — the Baptistry of San Giovanni, opposite the city’s Duomo — are getting a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see its ceiling mosaics up close thanks to an innovative approach to a planned restoration effort.

Rather than limit the public’s access during the six-year cleaning of the vault, officials built a scaffolding platform for the art restorers that will also allow small numbers of visitors to see the ceiling mosaics at eye level.

“We had to turn this occasion into an opportunity to make it even more accessible and usable by the public through special routes that would bring visitors into direct contact with the mosaics,” Samuele Caciagli, the architect in charge of the restoration site, said.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Caciagli called the new scaffolding tour of the baptistry vault “a unique opportunity that is unlikely to be repeated in the coming decades.”

The scaffolding platform sprouts like a mushroom from the floor of the baptistry and reaches a height of 32 meters (105 feet) from the ground. Visits are set to start Feb. 24 and must be reserved in advance.

The octagonal-shaped baptistry is one of the most visible monuments of Florence. Its exterior features an alternating geometric pattern of white Carrara and green Prato marble and three great bronze doors depicting biblical scenes.

Inside, however, are spectacular mosaic scenes of The Last Judgment and John the Baptist dating from the 13th century and created using some 10 million pieces of stone and glass over 1,000 square meters of dome and wall.

The six-year restoration project is the first in over a century. It initially involves conducting studies on the current state of the mosaics to determine what needs to be done. The expected work includes addressing any water damage to the mortar , removing decades of grime and reaffixing the stones to prevent them from detaching.

“(This first phase) is a bit like the diagnosis of a patient: a whole series of diagnostic investigations are carried out to understand what pathologies of degradation are present on the mosaic material but also on the whole attachment package that holds this mosaic material to the structure behind it,” Beatrice Agostini, who is in charge of the restoration work, said.

The Baptistry of San Giovanni and its mosaics have undergone previous restorations over the centuries, many of them inefficient or even damaging to the structure. During one botched effort in 1819, an entire section of mosaics detached. Persistent water damage from roof leaks did not get resolved until 2014-2015.

Roberto Nardi, director of the Archaeological Conservation Center, the private company managing the restoration, said the planned work wouldn’t introduce any material that is foreign to the original types of stone and mortar used centuries ago.

“It is a mix of science, technology, experience and tradition,” he said.

The origins of the baptistry are something of a mystery. Some believe it was once a pagan temple, though the current structure dates from the 4th or 5th centuries.

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