Extension (1967)

Here they are -- bill bissett (in pre-Covid mask), bpNicol and Phyllis Webb -- in an episode of CBC's Extension, a mid-1960s television show "devoted to modern Canadian poetry."

Haida Modern (2020)

This morning I heard fellow Point Grey High School graduate Robert Davidson on CBC speaking (Haida) culture to (Tom) Power in advance of the network's Haida Modern documentary, to air this week. (In 2007 I had the honour of visiting Davidson at his Semiahmoo studio for a Vancouver Magazine piece on his and his brother Reg's controversial Damien Hirst commissions.)

On the topic of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Haida art tattoo, Davidson reminded listeners that Trudeau did not ask his permission to wear his work on his arm, but also -- and this is something I didn't know -- that the design Trudeau had adapted was co-authored with Davidson's daughter, Sara, for a 1985 benefit. Robert did the outer design, but for whatever reason Sara's interior lines ("inner world") were replaced with a globe -- a gesture Trudeau tried to justify by saying he got the globe, first, when he was 23, and had (Robert) Davidson's Raven applied around it when he was 40.

Rocket Robin Hood Pilot

The year is 3000. Earth's oceans are mysteriously disappearing (?) and the Sheriff of N.O.T. is claiming the exposed land is "sovereign" -- meaning it belongs to him. Rocket Robin Hood and his Band of Merry Spacemen live on an artificial asteroid (New Sherwood Forest), where they are visited by an Earthling who apprises them of the Sheriff's plans. Robin pays a visit.

Rocket Robin Hood is a Canadian-produced cartoon that first aired on the CBC from 1966-1969, and was later re-broadcast on Vancouver channels like CKVU. For some of us high schoolers, smoking pot and watching Rocket Robin Hood was an after school pastime. It was only yesterday that I found its pilot.

Pilots are seeds for those who know only their flowers. They are often surprising, like the first time I saw the Star Trek pilot after years of watching Star Trek. What's Spock on? I remember thinking. He's so hyper. A jonesing junkie.

The first episode of RRH ("Prince of Plotters") features some significant differences, most notably in the skin colour of the Sheriff and his deputies. At 3:45 a small town mayor pulls out a cell phone -- and asks the (female) operator to connect him to Prince John.

Eleanor Collins

Speaking of birthdays, CBC radio's long-running, regionally broadcast Hot Air jazz show celebrated the birthday of singer Eleanor Collins yesterday.

Collins, who turned 100-years-old last Thursday, was born in Edmonton on November 21, 1919 of American parents. She had many offers to visit the U.S. and pursue her career there, but chose to remain in Canada in honour of her parents' decision to to come to the Prairies, as other Black American families did, and "homestead." A long-time resident of Vancouver, Collins is the first woman in Canada to have hosted her own TV show.

A big thank you to Hot Air host Margaret Gallagher and part-time host Paolo Pietropaolo for putting together yesterday's episode. If I could ask one thing of you two: How about gathering some of Eleanor's past performances and making a concert of them, to be shown on the CBC's outdoor screen some summer's night?

Rosanna Deerchild

Rosanna Deerchild opens up Unreserved's "Valentine's Day" episode (February 11th) with interviews at Winnipeg's Portage Place Mall, where we meet Josh and Cody (1:50-4:00), who ever-so-sweetly remind Rosanna that for gay men, it is not Tinder, but Grinder.

The week prior (February 4th) is an episode dubbed "The power of transformation" that focuses on changes to the corporeal body (Gwen Benaway, Lauren Sylliboy and Vizin), but also to that body of writing known as the text (Jordan Abel on his recent book Injun, 2016 [29:04-37:27]).

Like Abel, Deerchild is a literary writer. Her books include this is a small northern poem (2008) and Calling Down the Sky (2015). Here is a link to one of her best known poems, "On the First Day".

Canada 150 Heritage Moment

Seventy-two hundred and thirty-nine seconds of our current moment can be found in this CBC news item. And yes, while it is two men doing most of the talking, they are kept on course by a woman charged with moderating their "conversation".

More from Jesse Wente (this morning) can be found here.