City Daily Photo Theme Day: April Fool

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for today that theme is appropriately April Fool. You can see how others are interpreting that theme right here.

This one was a tough one for me. I could have gone and sat in the visitor's gallery at Parliament and photographed the members of the House of Commons. No, wait, that's not possible, since in the age of Covid there won't be public visitations until at least the summer. I could have just taken the easy way out and took several selfies with me making faces. Believe me, I was tempted.

Then I remembered a solution. 

A Company Of Fools is a theatrical company that does Shakespeare in the park productions each year here in Ottawa and the surrounding area. Have a look at their website here. I've seen some of their productions at various parks, and it's a lot of fun. While it's not possible to photograph them at work at the moment (thanks a lot, Coronavirus), I decided to photograph one of their regular settings. Strathcona Park is in the Sandy Hill neighbourhood, overlooking the Rideau River.

This is a view of the park from high ground to the north, along Laurier Avenue.

There is an ornate fountain up here.

"What fools these mortals be." - Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream

"God give them wisdom that have it, and those that are fools, let them use their talents." - Feste, Twelfth Night

"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." - Feste, Twelfth Night

"The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother's soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen."- Feste, Twelfth Night

Another look down into the park. It would be quite foolish to try to go down that slope. When I visited, it was a cold day in mid-March. There had been some snowmelt, but the downturn in temperatures had created some icy conditions. Standing up here I heard the familiar honking of Canada geese; the first of the season, coming back from warmer climates and taking a break here.

I took the road on the west side of the park to come in. Range Road is home to several embassies and ambassador's residences. This view looks north to the high ground I came down from. There's a building up there through the trees with just a flash of blue; we'll get a look at it tomorrow.

This is one of the features of the park, a mix of architectural elements called a folly, designed as a play space by an artist, Stephen Braithwaite. The Company of Fools has used this in their productions.

I moved along, wanting to photograph the river. I noticed several geese in the park, including this pair close to me. One was sizing me up.

A look at the river. The Vanier neighbourhood is on the east shore of the Rideau River, which roughly parallels the course of the Rideau Canal to the west, meeting its end downstream from here where it joins the Ottawa River.

There was significant ice break up in this area. The river is shallow here.

This view upstream takes in a bridge we'll get a closer look at in a couple of days.

I headed in that direction, first looking west. Because of the freeze up of meltwater, a large enough area ended up creating a spot for skating, and some people were doing just that.

My last shot: a male and female pair of ducks near the retaining wall overlooking the river. Tomorrow we'll look at some of the landmarks in this area. I took shots of them before coming down into the park.

We Band Of Brothers

Today I have something different. Six hundred years ago today, on St. Crispin's Day, October 25th, 1415, Henry V personally led an outnumbered English army against the French at Agincourt, winning the battle and the day. The Union Jack seems appropriate for the occasion, and it hangs from a downtown hotel alongside other flags. The English flag of St. George is taken from my archives; I photographed it in the Glebe during the last World Cup.

William Shakespeare incorporated the battle into his play Henry V. You can see Kenneth Branagh give his version of the Crispin's Day speech here. And if you've never seen Branagh's film adaptation, you should. For a more irreverent  take on that speech, check out Leslie Nielsen giving the Eleventh Of March speech from Due South.

Poppy Love And The Scottish Play

Last week I showed you a couple of items of calligraphy presently hanging in the main branch of the public library, courtesy of the Calligraphy Society of Ottawa. Here are two more. The first really seems to mix visual art and calligraphy.

The second goes for the theatre, inscribing a passage from Shakespeare's Macbeth (or the Scottish Play, as superstitious actors would refer to it). Mounted against a darkly colourful background, the paper stands out well.

Foul Whisp'rings Are Abroad...

What a great line.

All That Remains Of A Winter Festival

In the aftermath of Winterlude in February, I passed through Confederation Park and took these two shots, but never published them. Perhaps because after all those beautiful sculptures, it seemed sad to see what became of them all. Due to liability issues (in this day and age we can't have someone hurt themselves or worse because of mishaps involving a melting sculpture, after all- there are far too many lawyers in the world pursuing far too many lawsuits... which reminds me, Shakespeare had it right: the first thing we do is kill all the lawyers), the sculptures are all broken down into these blocks, which are soon removed from the park. The colour you see in some of the blocks are from some interactive sculptures that had the work of children applying something along the lines of food colouring to them.

Literary Stained Glass

I've posted this window before, but from straight on. This stained glass window is in the main branch of the public library downtown. Instead of religious figures as you'd see in a church, we get literary titans like Shakespeare, Dickens, Scott, Tennyson, and others in the window. It's a bit of a challenge to photograph, but it's a worthwhile subject to capture.

Some Geese Are Born Great

I took shots of this Canada Goose near the Rideau Canal, at the pond linked to the Canal by the Bank Street Bridge. As I've done before, I thought I'd caption it with something entirely different, in this case lines by Feste the Fool in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. By the way, check out Sir Ben Kingsley give this speech in this film version of the play if you've never seen it.

"Why, 'some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrown upon them.'

I was one, sir, in this interlude; one Sir Topas.

But that's all one. 'By the Lord, fool, I am not mad.'

But do you remember? 'Madam, why laugh you at such a barren rascal? 

And you smile not, he's gagged.'

And thus the whirligig of time brings in his revenges."