Virtual Montreal Fountain Tours: Fountain at Iberville Square

 

St-Cunigunde Church, Montreal

Geographic Coordinates:

45.48527062318233, -73.57697992574523 

 “This is the first time I was ever in a city where you couldn't throw a brick without breaking a church window”. Mark Twain The New York Times, December 10, 1881.

Twain was speaking in and of my home town of Montreal at a reception held in his honour at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal on Thursday December 8, 1881.

During my bus commutes to work I would see many church tops and Twain's quote would come to mind. While walking as part of my regular commute I saw one of these churches up close. It is called  St. Cunigunde Church. Across the street  is Iberville Square with a fountain dedicated to Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville. 

The lower part of the inscription reads: “The first statue was erected by the citizens of the city of Ste-Cunigunde  on July 19, 1894.", yes there was such a city on the island of Montreal in the day. And it continued, "This second statue was raised by the city of Montreal on July 20, 1983."

Very dissimilar to the first two fountains that we visited, the fountain to honour Chevalier Pierre Le Moyen d’Iberville, located across from St-Cunigunde Church on the southwest corner St-Jacques West and Vinet streets, is extremely simple in comparison to the others. There are neither fire, nor lights, and this really says something about the time it was constructed.

The four spigots are most likely being powered by four separate centrifugal pumps, with the appropriate amount of power to provide the desired rise of water. There are factors to be measured and formulas that fountain designers use to determine the size of the pumps they need.

The centre piece of granite bears inscriptions on each of its faces. Each spigot is set in line with the right angle of the centre piece, and spews a decent volume of water about a metre into the air. It seems to have no special timing mechanism. The jets are pretty simple, though they do create a very calming sound. However; for some individuals, depending on the volume of fluids they consume before visiting this fountain it may just create a Pavlovian reflex making them feel like urinating.

 

The fountain where it stands today was erected by the City of Montreal in 1983, and it seems to be constantly running.

One of the first patents for water fountain controls US Patent 4,111,363, was issued in the autumn of 1978 and called for the use of timing mechanisms and electromagnetically controlled valves. As we saw with both La Jute and the 29 jets at Victoria Square, the art of fountain design, construction and layout has progressed a great deal over the last four decades.

To see the fountain in action visit https://bit.ly/3JqzT0u and please subscribe to my YouTube channel like and leave your comments.

To see the episodes you have missed please check my playlist at: https://bit.ly/3oCZ32m .

Virtual Montreal Fountain Tours is released weekly, on Thursdays, with a short appearing on Mondays.

Closed Captioning is provided for those with hearing difficulty in English, and subtitles are available in both French and Ukrainian.

A Call to Ukrainians and Supporters of Ukraine to Look at Something New

The Ukrainian community regardless of where it is, is always looking for money to support the countless projects that are underway. This has even become more of a reality in the last year. It is time that the community try to find something new in social media. Just over two weeks ago I wrote a piece about a disruptive social network which would change the way things work in social media in that it would actually feed back to those who made that platform successful! I said that Tsū was disruptive and I think I was right for a whole 100%. It is time for us to look at something new.

In the last month since this new social platform, that pays its members to post, comment and share content, they have beaten any growth records of social media in the past. In fact it is pretty incredible. Within a month they have one MILLION members!



One of the founders Sebastian Sobczak has already released a campaign to support the drilling of a well in Africa for clean drinking water in a particular village. The platform that Mr. Sobczak and his team at Evacuation Complete LLC has developed is not just to make money but to do good. Raise money for its members who can then give to organizations of their choice either through the platform but in the very least make money by creating content, sharing it, liking it and commenting on it and that of other content creators.

The background

In the early stages of my examination of this extremely new platform I thought it was some time of MLM scheme. But in conferring with a number of social media gurus through reading their take on things, and reviewing Google Hangout video recordings, I understood that this was something completely different. It was then that I wrote my first piece on this new disruptive social network, that was for a change letting content creators maintain ownership of their content. This was and is something that other social networks use to drive advertising revenue, and profit from users publication.

The management company of Tsū is called Evacuation Complete LLC, and they have acquired, from my research, 7 million capital to become whatever they want to become based on their platform. If they choose to become another type of PayPal then so be it.

The platform that they are developing can truly empower many people, including the Ukrainian community if it so chooses to take part.

If the Ukrainian community doesn't take part we will be left behind the eight ball. I in less than three weeks have earned one dollar! And this is without a network to support me, it is simply based on sharing of content, my own or of others, up to eight times in a 24 hour period; liking other people's content, and making comments.

I believe that if Ukrainians came together on this platform we would simplify many matters of financing that which we are already crowd sourcing.

The Mechanism

One can only become a member of Tsū by being invited. When you are invited to Tsū , you become a child of the person who invited you. Like in any type of structure of developing relationships, it is expected that you too will invite others to join you in your venture. Unlike, MLM schemes where you have to pay money to do this, your decision to join Tsū costs you nothing but your agreement with the company and some type of positive relationship with the person who invited you into a PARTICIPATIVE EXCHANGE. Yes that is what makes the system work, cooperation and participation of your NETWORK. It works well for everyone involved. And trust me, it is important that you support your friends. We all have done this on Facebook and other social networks, but have we ever been paid to do this? I would like to see our community grow stronger due to this new Social Platform that is fair to its users!Ninety percent of the money it makes from advertisers, sponsors and partners goes back to the companies users/members.

I have invited people and organizations I know that are Pro-Ukrainian, and along the way I have met friends and followers that like what I post and share it. This is how we make money.

I have had some people that are scum of Moscovy make comments on what I was putting forth and and I had no problem turning them off. The thing that drives this social network is quality content. It's a completely new network, something that is disruptive and new, and I believe we as Ukrainians, and supporters of Ukraine should join it en mass.

How To React

Currently I have invited a few people and organizations that I know and who could use some support. While I would like many of you to join me as a child, I do not think this is the best way to support our community. Right now I have three or four different organizations or individuals that need support on what they are up to.

The first is EMPR – EuroMaidanPRmedia – Please join them at https://www.tsu.co/EMPRmedia
The second is an artist and Ukrainian patriot - Serhiy Kolyada - https://www.tsu.co/Kolyada
And third is Tyler Gooden – Film Maker – American supporting Ukrainian values - https://www.tsu.co/Tyler_G

Please do not hesitate to sign up under their positions or mine: http://tsu.co/uamuzik .

I will provide everyone what I know about how things work. The primary matter is providing quality content, this is what drives the system. By the end of the third week of the platform's operation a great deal of spammers and people who look at this as a get-rich-quick scheme have been eliminated.

In working together and supporting one another the Ukrainian community can generate income from a system that is totally disruptive.

Anyone who joins the system I will provide information on how to use this system. Right now there are people who are making money. Our support of one another can help us make money and in turn help us to support the things we would like to support.




Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant

The commentary of this was first published on the WPawlowsky.com site.

Association of Writers in Ukraine support free courses in the Ukrainian Language

Kyiv - In short today the Association of Writers of Ukraine have signed a memorandum supporting the free Ukrainian language courses being offered in many different cities throughout the country. A long time friend of mine, Oleksandr (Oles') Doniy and member of the Ukrainian Parliament was the initiator of this project.

Last year he asked me to be part of a Committee for the Protection of the Ukrainian language - even though I live in Canada. He and I go back many years, and I was honoured that this friend had such a trust in me.

Today I am reposting the orginal texts from the Portal of Contemporary Ukrainian Literature - I know that the work they are doing is important in suh a post-Soviet space. I want my friends in the West to understand that Ukrainians are not Russians and that our histories are very different. Those north of Ukraine like to be very condescending, but their nation developed many years after Ukraine. So here it is the copy of the statement made on the Portal of Contemporary Ukrainian Literature:

Спілка письменників підтримала «Безкоштовні курси української мови». Підписано відповідний меморандум

23 Жов 2013, Адміністратор  
Рубрика: Новини НСПУ

Прокоментуй!

Спілка письменників підтримала «Безкоштовні курси української мови»

17 жовтня з ініціативи Всеукраїнського комітету захисту української мови та народного депутата Олександра Донія в Києві стартував проект «Безкоштовні курси української мови», слухачі якого протягом 4 місяців навчатимуться долати мовний бар’єр та правильно розмовляти українською.

Навчатимуть мови викладачі-волонтери Катерина Мельник, Тетяна Шептицька, Оксана Гордійчук, Марина Гогуля, Анна Загребельна, Оксана Неживенко.

Цього року проект став загальнонаціональним і, починаючи з жовтня, курси стартують у різних містах України. На сьогодні навчання вже відбувається у Житомирі й Кіровограді, Кременчуці та Калуші, Херсоні й Луганську. У Сумах та Севастополі формуються групи слухачів.

Активісти проекту ведуть перемовини із громадськими діячами різних міст, але пріоритетними розглядаються регіони (найперше – Південь та Схід), де вживання української мови недостатньо поширене.

Проведення курсів має на меті налагодження контактів між людьми, які вивчають українську мову, літературу, культуру; популяризацію української мови, літератури й культури; розвиток професійних зв’язків та гуманітарних контактів між викладачами і науковцями та іншими фахівцями, які досліджують проблеми української мови, літератури, культури; створення єдиного інформаційного простору для фахівців, що пов’язані з вивченням, викладанням та популяризацією української мови, літератури та культури.

Програма курсів реалізовується на засадах волонтерства; важливу роль відіграють ініціативність громадськості міст, прилучення до справи регіональних осередків Всеукраїнського комітету захисту української мови.

Олександр Доній

- У рамках курсів також проводитимуться лекції з історії, культури, мистецтва, кіно тощо від відомих діячів культури та освіти, які долучилися до Всеукраїнського комітету захисту української мови, – розповів ініціатор проекту Олександр Доній. – Власне, тематика кожного конкретного заняття буде, першою чергою, визначатися побажаннями самих слухачів. Зустрічі не нагадуватимуть шкільні уроки чи студентські заняття, де викладач щось виголошує, а аудиторія слухає і занотовує. Важливо, щоб люди якомога більше спілкувалися українською, обговорювали і політичні аспекти, і повсякденні справи. Не стільки навчання граматиці, скільки комунікування українською, подолання людьми, рідною для яких є інша, не українська, мова психологічного бар’єру у спілкуванні українською, розширення загальнокультурного українознавчого рівня є для нас головним.

На сьогодні в містах, де вже успішно діють курси, інтерес до них наростає і вже постала необхідність створювати додаткові групи.

Відтак, 22 жовтня голова Всеукраїнського комітету захисту української мови Олександр Доній та голова Національної спілки письменників України Віктор Баранов підписали Меморандум, метою якого є співпраця між Всеукраїнським комітетом захисту української мови та НСПУ в реалізації Всеукраїнського проекту «Безкоштовні курси української мови».
З цього приводу голова НСПУ Віктор Баранов зазначив таке:

Віктор Баранов

- Ми виходимо з того, що НСПУ як позапартійна, позаполітична громадська творча організація виконує статутні зобов’язання. Але в Україні так історично склалось, що письменник – це не тільки той хто пише книжки, а й той хто стоїть в обороні національних святинь, наших духовних цінностей. І через те, коли виникла думка про долучення НСПУ до прекрасного проекту “Навчи друга говорити українською мовою”, ми не могли стояти осторонь і з великим задоволенням приєдналися.

Я вважаю, що це не тільки наш обов’язок, а й наш спілчанський внесок у ту справу, яку сьогодні фактично не виконує держава. Я маю на увазі те, що через 22 роки після здобуття Україною незалежності ми досі зіштовхуємося із проблемами функціонування державної мови, що ця мова не підтримується, не культивується та не поширюється на місцях органами державної влади. Фактично порушується 10 стаття Конституції України про те, що державною мовою є українська.

Тим паче, що НСПУ, яка і в найкращі свої часи, і в часи сталінських переслідувань не мовчала. Письменники зберігали мову для народу, шліфували її і плекали, показували її велич. Не заради “піару” Спілки ми приєднались до цієї ініціативи. І я сподіваюсь, що це спричинить масовий рух в Україні до того, що українська мова буде престижною, що нею буде розмовляти модно. На щастя, я вже бачу ці тенденції серед молоді.
Я вірю, – підсумував В.Баранов, – що ці мовні курси зрештою зроблять Україну українською.

НСПУ долучається до ініціативи не лише наданням приміщення, а й тим, що делегуватиме на курси письменників, які виступатимуть зі своєю творчістю, а також читатимуть лекції, мовні практикуми, демонструючи красу і силу української мови.

Перша лекція в межах «Безкоштовних курсів української мови» відбудеться в Будинку письменників НСПУ вже сьогодні – 23 жовтня.




 Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant

Sixty-four years ago today

In 1952 at the age of twenty-six my father came to this country, the reasons he chose to settle in Montreal are not completely clear to me, but I know that a large part of it had to do with that he spoke French and knew no English when he landed in Montreal, after a flight that originated in Brussels and followed a path which was very similar to mine during my first trip to Ukraine in the summer of 1990. It would be thirty-eight years later that I made stops in Gander, Newfoundland, and Shannon, Ireland it was somehow befitting that it was on Canada Day that I was travelling to my father's homeland which he had never returned to.

He, together with his brother, like thousands of others had been shipped off to Germany to be basically used as slave child labour by the Nazis. Later when the Soviet front advanced into Germany it did two things. By the time this happened his older brother was at an age were he would have been expected by Stalin's criminal regime to be serving in the Soviet Army, as a result, having been discovered working for a Germany farmer, he was shipped off to the Gulag. He spent over ten years in the Gulag having been considered a deserter and Ukrainian nationalist. The second thing that happened with the advance of the Soviet front was that the farmer my father had been assigned to as a farm hand had been notified of my uncle's arrest. Amazingly enough the communication had come from the farmer that my uncle had been assigned to, and it had come by pigeon. The farmer my father had been assigned to had lost all three sons to Hitler's war machine and was not very sympathetic to the Nazis, he also knew my father was someone elses child and he did what he could to keep him out of harms way. His wife packed my father some food and the farmer gave him a bicycle allowing him to hightail as fast as he could in the opposite direction towards where the western Allies had been pressing into Nazi Germany. Had he not made it to wherever that spot was I wouldn't be writing this right now.

After spending some time in displaced person's camps in post war Europe, my father was hired to work in the mines at Charbonnages d'Hornu et Wasmes, Compagnie des Charbonnages Belges in Wasmes, Belgium all thanks to the Marshall Plan. After working there a short time and having gained a better understanding of the French language he enrolled in a professional course at the École professionnelle des Mineurs du Charbonage du Hornu et Wasmes, in Wasmes. On this day, October 1, 1949, sixty-four years ago today, he received with High Distinction what was called a Diplôme de capacité in a trade which is in the coal mining industry known as boisage in the French language. In English it is know as timbering, though more specifically Mine Timbering.

Being gainfully employed, and performing a task that was, and always be needed in the mining industry, he continued working in Belgium while many other Eastern Europeans were already clambering on to ships for North America. In addition to spending a great deal of time underground, having survived a couple of cave-ins, and waiting on tables during his days off, he and with who had become his best friend Mykhaylo Mykhaylowicz and who would later become my godfather, decided that they would not spend two weeks or more on a crowded ship and a great place to catch one`s death during the journey to Canada, but would fly. Canada's doors were open, and the monies from the Marshall Plan were probably running dry thus forcing them to make their decision.

I can not be certain when he had made the decision to come to Canada, but I do recall him explaining to me his logic of why he settled in Montreal, which had been formulated primarily due to his ability to communicate in French. With his homeland now completely occupied the the Soviets, he saw no reason to return home, he was a patriot and wanted to see his native land as a free and democratic nation, that would never come to pass in his lifetime though. He like the thousands of others who had come to Canada from the part of the world where he had been born, was also a very proud to be a Canadian. There was never a question of where his or their allegiances were. Canada had become a haven for him and hundreds of thousands of other Ukrainians prior to the the first Great War, before the next one, and after WWII had laid to ruin so much of Europe.

While my father probably never knew of the following speech by one of Canada`s greatest statesmen, I know that had been very proud to be Canadian, though like we often say about different sports. You can take the person out of Ukraine, but you can`t the Ukrainian part out of the person when they become a Canadian. I am certain that this applies to all the different peoples who have made Canada their home over the last one-hundred and thirty some odd years.

Sir Wiflrid Laurier, 1907 Author:Unknown

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes a Canadian and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet a Canadian, and nothing but a Canadian...

There can be no divided allegiance here.
Any man who says he is a Canadian, but something else also, isn't a Canadian at all.
We have room for but one flag, the Canadian flag...
And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the Canadian people.”
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 1907

Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant

Shedding some light on Canadian History

Yesterday, I paid a visit to film maker Yuriy Luhovy's with a friend of mine who wanted to return a copy of the Ukrainian version of his multi-award winning documentary Genocide Revealed. During the course of his questioning Yuriy about other films I was surprised to learn that it was at that moment that that friend had first heard of the internment of Ukrainians during WWI.

He was equally surprised to learn of the Internment camp at Spirit Lake, Quebec, that at Field, Alberta and the many others. We gave him a short history lesson and mentioned how the father of the former mayor of the community Greenfield Park on Montreal's south shore, Steve Olinyk, though while not interned, had to report to police weekly to have his identity papers stamped, and to add insult to injury his father had to pay the police two dollars for them to do so.

For other episodes on that black page in Canadian history, and the precedent for the internment of Italian and Japanese Canadians during WWII, check out the Internment pages on InfoUkes.com. A more recent recount of a darker part of Banff, that somehow took nearly 100 years to be brought into the light in the Calgary Herald: "Luciuk: Banff finally tells story of Ukrainian internees - So-called enemy aliens were forced to do labour in national park"

Vasyl Pawlowsky Independent Consultant

In Defense of the Ukrainian People

The kangaroo courts which are trying both former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and former Minister of the Interior Yuriy Lutsenko, not to mention many other Ukrainians, from students to pensioners is clearly in criminal defiance of the Rule of Law.

At the current time there is no doubt in my mind that the regime in power has no interest in the benefit of the nation it "rules with an iron fist" or its people.

Today it became clearer than the light of day that the current regime is trying to physically destroy both Yuriy Lutsentko and Yulia Tymoshenko – in short to kill them.

Yuriy Lutsenko's health is rapidly deteriorating and has been on a rapid decline since the month of May, he has been diagnosed with sclerosis of the liver, for which he requires immediate treatment. This recommended treatment by officials of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine has been denied by “judge” Boyko.

This in itself shows the criminality and disrespect for the Rule of Law by the current regime, and it is clear to me that the current regime understands that it is much simpler if Yuri Lutsenko dies while in custody, than to actually pass any type of judgment on him. Its analysts are counting on the economic problems globally, and even more so in Europe, and the passive stupor that the Ukrainian people have been put into, due to their many foul tactics to ensure that day comes as soon as possible.

Why are they treating him this way? Simple, they operate “beyond the boundaries of any written or unwritten laws.” For them, it is probably simply payback for any of the cases which Lutsenko as Minister of the Interior had interfered with their business. Their disrespect for human life and their attitudes towards “law abiding” and “normal” Ukrainians is clear. It is an “US vs THEM” mentality.

Yulia Tymoshenko, while not in such a dire state of health is being driven down that same road.

At the current time the only option that exists in terms of leadership in the country is Yulia Tymoshenko. She has taken the burden of standing up for what is right and what is wrong in the country, and the case against her. There are few individuals in Ukraine, who can, and will at this point, stand up for the country and all of its people, their dignity and their rights.

The clan and bandit mentality of the current regime with its own personal business interests in mind, which come before those of the country are evident. While political capture has long been an issue amongst political analysts of Ukraine, and countries strongly rooted in democratic principles who have tried to assist Ukraine over the last twenty years; it must be understood that the hunt to capture Ukraine started even before its independence twenty short years ago. It came to its culmination with the inauguration of the country's fourth President.

Ukrainians both in Ukraine and in the Diaspora must get it through their heads that Yulia Tymoshenko, at this point, is the only capable individual in the country with the skills, intellect and testes to do what is necessary and bring some order to the current state of affairs in Ukraine, and the riffraff which governs by the rules which only THEY understand.

Those who are now in power very well understood the maxim of “divide and conquer”. It is time for the people of Ukraine to take back what is rightfully and morally theirs. They have to bury their differences and unite behind someone capable and who has shown in many instances she is willing to bare the burden against her current political foes that morally stand on a different side of the fence than US good people.

Vasyl Pawlowsky
Independent Consultant

Getting back on track..."They ask us, if we have a culture"

I was pleasantly surprised to see an article of the title above on the Ukrainska Pravda. It reaffirms that some of the things that I have been trying to bring to the fore for discussion on my blog are not far fetched, and that well known figures in contemporary Ukrainian literary circles such as Oksana Zabushko are raising similar points but from a slightly different perspective than I am trying to do in the area of Ukrainian music.

Неймовірна кількість сьогоднішніх українських проблем, пов'язаних із невизначеністю, ще й дотепер, нашого місця на міжнародній арені спричинена, на моє щонайглибше переконання, одним вельми сумним фактом – тим, що сучасна Україна не є культурною державою.

Wrote Zabushko in her first paragraph of the article. She is absolutely right, contemporary Ukraine is not a cultural state, and it has a long way to go before it becomes one. While some oligarchs are starting to put money into the arts, the government has no clear policy of what it is doing in the area of culture. It has no strategic plan, and any laws that are in place to help contemporary culture, such as content laws, are simply not enforced.

Nevertheless, it seems that I am finding allies in this area. After about two months of a friend of mine saying that I have to meet one of the journalists that works with him at the Kyiv Weekly and who reports on cultural matters it finally happened. He had mentioned that we already knew one another and he was right, its just that so often I am better with faces than names.

Dmytro and I met and spent almost two hours discussing some of the problems in the cultural sphere in Ukraine and decided that we would have to meet again, and if possible find projects to work on that can be mutually beneficial, with or without the help of the Ukrainian government.

On the brink of another (r)evolution

While the topic line may not seem to have anything to do with the music or entertainment industry it was the events of the Orange (R)evolution in 2004-2005 that eventually led me to meet an interesting film maker this past Thursday. During the heady events of the Orange (R)evolution my Kum (the father of my godson), was moved from the tent city on Khreschatyk, Kyiv's main street to run the camp that had sprung up by the Verkhovna Rada. There he met the son of the film maker I just met, actually I probably met the son as well during the times I would lead journalists up to that encampment, in order that fill the pages of their publications with the human side of the Orange (R)evolution.

Just a little over a year ago my Kum called me up. "I have some work for you. How do you feel about editing a film script?" Given I was freelancing at the time I came to an agreement with my Kum as a middle man. I received the five episodes, written out on a minute by minute technical screenplay, including the set, characters, how they are dressed, technical equipment needed to shoot the scene. After about working on this fascinating story on and off for about a week I was called and told the project was called off. I never got paid for the work, but at the time I just didn't care. I was fascinated by a story of five different epochs of pro-Ukrainian and early Ukrainian history which were episodes which could be either shown on TV as five different shows, or as a feature length film. All woven together by the events of the Orange (R)evolution, and the contemporary life of an archaeologist who has been piecing together the history of this part of the world, and the people who once inhabited the lands that now make up Ukraine.<

A couple of nights ago my Kum called me up once again, and asked me where I was. He joined me and a friend of mine Karolina for a drink, they had met at Karolina's birthday party earlier in the year so it wasn't a problem that he joined us at our table. Somehow, we had come full circle, but this time it wasn't for editing the script that I had to abandon last spring, but it was a request that I meet with the film maker and see if I could somehow now assist in completing this work which is now 80% complete. I agreed to meet him on Thursday afternoon.

As I walked from my apartment that morning down Liuteranska Street near the Presidential Administration I experienced an extremely high presence of police and Berkut, special tactical forces, along Liuteranska in three buses on the street itself and a number of other buses parked in the courtyards behind the houses that line the street. I felt like I had just returned to the time leading up to the Orange (R)evolution. I met the film maker and we introduced ourselves to one another. I told him a little about our company and my partner who could not make the meeting as he was in Western Ukraine taking care of some other business. He explained his situation, gave me a synopsis of each of the film's episodes and a promotional DVD of the film. I slipped the DVD into my laptop. As the film started to play, and as I watched I saw before my eyes the characters I had become familiar with when editing the script. I told him that my partner and I would take a look at it and see how would could help in finishing the film and how we would market it.

This morning as I walked down Liuteranska Street I saw Oleg Euvrolinerovych [he is a story in himself], Vladislav Kaskiv's of PORA's driver. I shook hands with him and in seconds Kaskiv came running out the door and jumped into the black Volkswagen van while trying to get his jacket on and shake my hand at the same time while at the same time saying, "Have to run to the Nasha Ukraina Party meeting, stay in touch!" Vlad and I have been friends since 1993. As the van pulled away he waved. His mother, pani Valya turned around to see who he had waved and then ran up to me gave me a big hug and invited me up to their flat for coffee. I couldn't refuse, pani Valya at times had been like a mother to me during my visits to Ukraine many years ago. Making me feel extremely comfortable, and while we were now neighbours I just never saw her very often.

While I sat on the couch and drank my coffee and basked in the warmth of a rich chocolate cake my mobile rang. It was the film maker, with a air of anxiousness in his voice."So what's your decision regarding my film?" I explained to him that I had only spoken to my partner and would only know today when he would return from L'viv and Ivano-Frankivsk. "I guess I will see you out on the barricades today at 17:00," he said. As I watched the Nasha Ukraina meeting live on Channel 5 and read the ticker at the bottom of the screen "20 buses of Party of Regions supporters have gathered by the river port" I thought to myself. /Yes, it's going to be a tense day! /Then I thought about what my room mate Myroslav Levytsky had said as I headed out of the apartment. "Stay out of the way of the cops! These guys are under different orders, and from different people!" He was right. We are possibly on the brink of a different (r)evolution.

Meanwhile, I am thinking about ways to find financing for this film, and so that Ukrainians can see their history on the screen. I history written by Ukrainians and not foreigners who have always meddled in our affairs and continue to do so to this day. I am certain that leading up to today's meeting on Maydan, cronies of Putin were on the line with their friends in the Party of Regions. They will never be able to be at peace with the fact that their Empire has crumbled and will no longer be as it once was.

The Flit Gig - Great but not safe

In North America or probably anywhere else where the "Rule of Law" is followed there would have been at least one hundred and fifty fewer people than the three hundred and twenty who paid for tickets, plus the thirty or so who were in on invites. Before the gig even began a friend of mine said, "If there is ever a fire in this place, we are going to die!" Thank God nothing of that nature happened or I would not be writing this right now, but she was absolutely right.

While the gig was full of energy, and great the new Pyvna Bochka on Bohdana Kmelnytskoho could have turned into a tragedy. Why? If anything happened, like a fire for example, with as many people that were in the place, lack of clearly marked exits, and not to mention the imbibing of beer, people could have been crushed to death in their efforts of trying to get out. Thank God that that didn't happen!

One of the problem with Kyiv is the lack of venues that can accommodate between four hundred and a thousand people comfortably. The clubs for example that do exist do little to think of the safety of their clientèle and simply are too small. For the music industry to develop in a healthy manner in Ukraine, not only do Ukrainian content laws need to be developed and adhered to, but there is clearly a need for safe venues that will allow Ukraine's young talents to perform before their public.