First Nations: Shut Down Canada!

There was a small demonstration by First Nations at Grandview Park at lunchtime. The speakers used screechy megaphones which made it hard for me to understand what was being said. However, their signs called for Canada to be “Shut Down” and for the RCMP to be disbanded.

I saw no police there but, when the protesters decided to form a parade and march north on the Drive there were suddenly whole fleets of cops on motorbikes and push bikes. As the parade marched away, I thought the number of police was about the same as the number of protesters and, while they didn’t interfere in the time I was watching, it seemed an over-reaction to say the least.

Image: Charleston WV

Grandview 23rd November 1920

Vancouver World, 19201123, p.13

All previous Grandview 1920 clippings.

Happy Fibonacci Day!

1123 — the first numbers in the Fibonacci sequence — allows us to celebrate November 23rd as Fibonacci Day. This is in honour of Italian Leonardo Bonacci of Pisa who discussed the sequence in 1202.

The Fibonacci sequence goes as follows: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144 and on to infinity. Each number is the sum of the previous two. They were known in India well before Fibonacci and were called Virahanka numbers.

It might seem just like a simple mathematician’s trick, but the Fibonacci sequence is found throughout nature. For example, the petals on flowers follow the sequence — most flowers have three (like lilies and irises), five (parnassia, rose hips) or eight (cosmea), 13 (some daisies), 21 (chicory), 34, 55 or 89 (asteraceae). Spirals, such as in pine cones or conch shells, are also built up in Fibonacci sequences.

One could spend an entire Fibonacci Day finding more examples, from spiral galaxies to DNA sequences to fractal diagrams.

Poem: Creating Collage

 

we sleep together,

for sure,

but mostly we share together,

cutting out our memories

from the bark of life’s tree

 

— like pieces of collage

laid out on the floor

before an exhibition

celebrating our anniversaries –

 

unhurriedly pasting them together

 

— refocusing colors and shapes

and forms –

 

until it is late again

and again

for sure

we sleep together