curieux

Michael Pollan

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

www.GuerrillaChoir.com

Imagine a choir that mixes into a crowded metro corridor one morning and begins singing “Slow down, you’re moving too fast; you’ve got to make the morning last.”

Imagine a choir that shows up at an immigration office and sings “We are the World” while seated among the newly arriving immigrants.

Imagine a choir that sings “We live in a Beautiful World” while riding bikes along the Montreal bike paths.

Definition: Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes, raids, etc.) to combat a larger and less mobile formal army.

Guerrilla Choir would be a strike force for good, for love, for inclusion, for healing, for the earth.

If your interested in playing a role...

Mom's Day

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. We thought since we have 3 new mothers, it would be nice to meet together and hear what some of our new mothers have learned about motherhood, kids and life in general. Anyone can bring a poem, a reading, a quote or something you learned from your mom that you feel is fitting. And bring some picnic food too. We’ll meet at the Brazzeal’s house around 4. If it’s a nice day, we’ll walk over and have our picnic along the Lachine Canal.  

Also, tonight (Friday night) you may want to drop by the Coffee House (8-10pm) at Dix Mille Villages at 5624 Monkland in NDG (metro:Villa Marie). There will be a wide assortment of poets, singers, spoken word artists and storytellers…and of course great fair-trade coffee.

 

Also (2), the road trip to NYC went really well. We'll gather in a couple of weeks to debrief and share what we learned. In the meantime, check out the pictures.

 

Also (3), I've decided to act on my idea of starting a Guerrilla Choir. Check out my website www.guerrillachoir.com to find out more about it. Let me know if you want to help out with shaping this adventure. Send me an email at info @ guerrillachoir . com.

 

Road Trip to NYC

C’était une belle expérience de ramasser des feuilles et déchets au parc près de chez J & A dimanche passé.  On a rencontre plusieurs des voisines, et on a fait une différence notable dans l’ambiance du parc. Si vous aimeriez suggérer un projet semblable dans votre quartier, nous contactez.

Ce dimanche, plusieurs entre nous seront en voyage à New York City pour une conférence (www.deepshift.org ). Ce sera une opportunité pour ceux qui restent en ville de rencontrer ou recevoir chez vous des amis (curieux ou non), voisines,  collègues, etc.  Les voyageurs vous raconteront de leurs exploits un dimanche dans la future proche.
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It was a great experience to rake the leaves and pick up trash at the park near J & A’s place last Sunday.  We met several people from the neighbourhood and made a notable difference in the park.  If you would like to suggest a similar project in your neighborhood, contact us.

This Sunday, several among us will be on a trip to New York City for a conference (www.deepshift.org).  It will be an opportunity for those who are staying in town to meet with or to invite to your home some friends (curieux or not), neighbours, colleagues, etc.  The travelers will be telling the stories of their exploits some future Sunday.

Here's a video of Brian McLaren talking about the meeting:

Garbage Warrior

Several of us watched Garbage Warrior last night after some great barbecue chicken by yours truley.  It is about architect Mike Reynolds from New Mexico, who's been experimenting w/ new forms of sustainable housing for the past 30 years. Check out the trailer below.

UPDATE: I was digging around on the links of the www.garbagewarrior.com site and found these pictures of incredible houses.... http://www.pinkhammer.blogspot.com/ http://flickr.com/photos/earthshipkirsten http://flickr.com/photos/earthship/

April 27 avril

Ce dimanche (27 avril) le gang de curieux réunira chez Andrea, Julien et Dorothée à 16h30. Mais cette fois, nous avons prendre la première heure pour ramasser les déchets dans le petit parc prés de leur maison.

Apportez un plat de nourriture pour le « potluck », et après nous aurons un temps de communion et méditation sur une histoire de Jésus.

This Sunday (April 27) the curieux gang will meet at Andrea, Julien and Dorothy’s house  at 4:30 pm. But this time we’ll take the first hour to clean up the trash in the little park on their street.

Bring a plate of food for the potluck, and afterwards we will have a time of communion and meditation on one of the stories of Jesus.

Emerge

Check out this excellent video about Nick and our friends at Emerge. It is part of a documentary about interesting, new churches across Canada. We'll have a place in it as well. A big thanks to Joe Manafo for pulling this all together.

Gandhi's "seven blunders"

In a recent coffee w/ Ron, he mentioned this quote about Gandhi as being very meaningful to him lately.

"Gandhi was convinced that much of the violence in society and in our personal lives has its origins in 'passive violence' that we commit (often unawares) against each other. In order to avoid the perpetuation of this passive violence, Gandhi drew up a pithy list of 'Seven Blunders' which any thinking person should reject. They are:
    Wealth without work
    Pleasure without character
    Commerce without morality
    Science without humanity
    Worship without sacrifice
    Politics without principle"

Happy Earth Day!

This Sunday, April 20, in honour of Earth Day plus some recent and upcoming Birth Days, we’ll be preparing "seedballs " at J and S’s place on St Marc.

Seedballs are made from a mixture of compost, powdered clay, flower seeds and water. Once they’re dry, the balls can be tossed onto abandoned lots or various uncultivated spots around town. The compost absorbs moisture and nourishes the seeds, and the clay holds the balls together until the seeds have time to sprout and develop roots. The overall effect will hopefully be to bring a burst of natural beauty into some barren urban spaces.

We’ll meet at 3 o’clock and spend a few hours working together. The work could be slightly messy so (just this time) no need to wear your Sunday best. Compost and clay will be provided. If you can, please bring a small package of any kind of hardy wildflower seeds. (Usually the packages indicate if they’re good for our climate.) The balls will contain a mixture of all the seeds we amass. Everybody can take some balls home with them to brighten their corner of the city.

Happy Earth Day, Montreal!

Some background info on seedballs: http://www.heavypetal.ca/archives/2007/03/a_brief_history_of_the_seed_ba.html

One international seedball project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6uZYvFSETY

Passover Remembered...

...a poem by Alla Bozarth-Campbell

Pack nothing.
Bring only your determination to serve
    and your willingness to be free.

Don’t wait for the bread to rise.
Take nourishment for the journey, but eat standing.
Be ready to move at a moment’s notice.

Do not hesitate to leave your old ways behind –
    fear, silence, submission.

Only surrender to the need of the time –
    love justice and walk humbly with your God.

Do not take time to explain to the neighbours.
Tell only a few trusted friends and family members.

Then begin quickly, before you have had time
    to sink back into old slavery.

«Les exclus d'aujourd'hui»

par Gilles Leblanc (23 janvier 2008)

Aujourd’hui, les exclus de ce monde sont les mêmes que ceux de l’époque du ministère terrestre du Christ. Comme autrefois, son message d’amour et la possibilité d’un nouveau mode de vie sont gratuitement offerts à tous. Aujourd’hui son amour, son pardon, sa simplicité, sa bonté, sa compassion et son sacrifice supportent encore les faibles, les souffrants et les malades.

Pour le monde dans lequel nous vivons, les divins miracles ne suffisent plus. La confession catholique n’est plus en vogue depuis une trentaine d’année au Québec. Elle a été remplacée par les intervenants en santé mentale, qui sont appuyés habituellement  par une grande diversité de médicaments psychiatrique. Ces nouvelles personnes ressources ont développés dans la deuxième moitié du vingtième siècle une considérable quantité de méthodes d’interventions thérapeutiques. Les individus fragiles, vulnérables, sensibles et dépendants affectifs, sont mis à l’écart des autres pour de mauvaises raisons. Ils sont; maniaco-dépressifs, schizophrènes, personnalités limites et autres troubles d’anxiété conduisant à des problèmes comportementaux. Selon moi, ils sont presque trop dysfonctionnels pour assumer un emploi de quarante heures/semaine.                   

Human Trafficking

Some us jumped in on a conference on human trafficking that took place in Montreal this weekend. Since my exposure to this issue had up to now been only a couple of CBC/PBS documentaries, It was a real eye-opener for me.

DID YOU KNOW:
27 million slaves exist in the world today...    2 million people are trafficked each year...     UNICEF sestimates over 1 million children are sold into slavery each year...     80% of trafficked victims are women...     Most victims are under 18 years old...     Annual revenues of the slave trade are estimated to be $32 billion and quickly surpassing drugs and weapons as the biggest criminal enterprise. NGO's estimate 12 - 15,000 people are trafficked to and trough Canada each year.

Here are come clips from the movie - CARGO: INNOCENCE LOST by Michael Cory Davis which we saw Saturday night.

DECEPTION

DEMAND

Here are some links you may want to follow if you want to investigate this issue
www.catwinternational.org Coalition Against Trafficking in Women International
www.ijm.ca  International Justice Mission Canada
www.thefuturegroup.org  The Future Group
www.stopthetraffic.org Stop the Traffic
www.freetheslaves.net Free the Slaves
www.ecpat.net End Child Pornography and Trafficking
www.polarisproject.org Polaris Project
www.sharedhope.org Shared Hope
www.chaste.org.uk Chaste
www.iabolish.org I Abolish

April 13 avril - John Eldredge

Ce dimanche le 13 avril, à 17h30, le gang de curieux réunira chez les Brazzeal pour voir un film/lecture de John Eldredge. Après, Ron mènera une discussion sur le thème du film : le narrative de notre vie, notre foi. Les idées du film sont très significatives pour Ron et Janice; alors, ils veulent les partager avec nous tous. Comme nourriture, Sanan va servir des sandwiches-végé.

This Sunday, April 13, at 5:30, the curieux gang will gather at the Brazzeals to watch a film/lecture by John Eldredge. Afterwards, Ron will lead a discussion on the theme of the movie: the story of our lives and our faith. The film has been very meaningful to Ron and Janice, so they’d like to share it with us. As for food, Sanan will serve veggie-sandwiches.

Saturday Night
If you’re not interested in the Habs game you may want to check out a film CARGO: INNOCENCE LOST, and discussion with filmmaker, Michael Cory Davis and award winning investigative journalist and author, Victor Malarek, This film is part of a conference this weekend on Human Trafficking: Slavery in the 21st Century, organized in part by our friend, Sally Richmond. The film and discussion will take place at Concordia University, Hall building – 110, 7:30pm. It’s free!

A Prayer for April Fool's Day

Blessed be you Trickster God, your naughty Spirit takes me where I would rather not go. Give me enough rope for my own sweet way to lead me to your wisdom as I set forth this day.

Master and Mistress of Up-side-down, jangle and dance your way around me as I set out this day.

Make wayward my straight-path feet that I might not walk narrow.

Tickle my stiff shoulders with your feather rattle that I might not die a martyr.

Whisper stories of mischievousness to my grim face that I might spend this day more playful.

Cough and splutter whilst I dazzle them with my self-importance.

Melt the arrogance in my chest that I might laugh from my belly with another.

Warm the cold hidden place where my fear lies that I might dare to visit it and smile with you and speak from it with timbre true.

Spirit of Up-side-down be at play in me this day.

from The Celtic Wheel of the Year: Celtic and Christian Seasonal Prayers by Tess Ward...a great book!

Bienvenue au monde Clara! Welcome to the world!

Change of Plans

We need to postpone the movie night at S & J's house. There are certain people who can't come but they absolutely LOVE the book East of Eden and we want them to be apart of the discussion, so it will be the following week April 6th.

SO, this week (Mar 30) we'll meet over at Andrea, Julien and Dorothée's house for our monthly potluck at 5:30

March 30 mars - East of Eden

UPDATE: Changed to April 6th. Merci.

Le roman le plus audacieux du siècle! Des personnages surprenants! Des émotions furieuses! Maintenant devenu le film le plus franc de l'histoire!
Venez voir À l'est d'Eden, en projection chez S et J. Souper (un gros pot de soupe) à 18:30, cinéma 19:30.

East of Eden Trailer (en anglais seulement)

 

The century's most daring novel! Such startling characters! Such untamed emotion! Now it's the  frankest motion picture ever made!
Come see East of Eden at S & J's house - Dinner (a big pot of soup) at 6:30, showtime 7:30.

Bitter Journey

Sarah told me about a nice flash that illustrates the last few days of Christ's life. Check it out here. I love the sound track.

Musique pour Pâques / Easter Music

Voici un peu de mes musiques préferées pour pâques
Here's some of my favorite music for easter
Agnus Dei by Samuel Barber
Agnus Dei from Arvo Pärt's Te Deum
Agnus Dei by Thomas Tallis
Agnus Dei from the Missa de Angel
Agnus Dei I&II Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli

Joyeuses Pâques / Happy Easter

Here are some opportunities for commemorating and celebrating the Easter weekend...plus a few prayer requests.

• The Stations of the Cross, interpreted by 14 artists – a joint project of St. Stephen’s and Emerge (and curieux provided the sound system and soundtrack.) The exhibit will be open from 12:30 to 6 pm this Friday      and Saturday at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church, 4006 Dorchester (corner    René Lévesque and Atwater, Atwater Metro.)  Drop by and explore the exhibit at your own pace.

• Good Friday, March 21, starting at 7 pm - some contemplative moments chez les Brazzeal – some quiet music, readings, candles.

• Easter Sunday, March 23 – The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Easter Brunch chez les Melanson. Bring something to add to the deliciousness of our common celebrative meal.

• Remember to keep Joseph and Claudia in your prayers as the time is very near for the arrival of Bébé Lebel. May the days surrounding the birth be blessed, filled with happiness, joy and love. (We’ll want to provide some meals for them soon, so be thinking about what you’d like to contribute.)
• Also, please pray for Paul Guber’s friend Brenda (a waitress from Mama’s Restaurant.) Her operation is scheduled for sometime Friday. Let’s pray with Paul for a successful surgery and a good recovery for Brenda. Paul plans to be in touch with her and will keep us updated on her situation.