In Remembrance Of The Fallen Of Warfare

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them." ~ Laurence Binyon

"If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields." ~ John McCrae

It is Remembrance Day here in Canada, while elsewhere the date is known as Armistice Day or Veterans Day. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918, the guns of war fell silent across the battlefields of Europe, ending the Great War. There will be services in cities, towns, and villages, the laying of wreaths, and the rituals common to the occasion. I will be attending the national service today. And for today, I feature photographs from the last year in my photoblog. The above is taken at Green Island in Ottawa. The park is home to several military monuments, including the National Artillery Memorial. Right beside it is a statue of the Canadian soldier, doctor, and poet John McCrae, who gave the world the poem In Flanders Fields.

Another military monument in the city is the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument, which features four Indigenous warriors back to back, with the wolf, bear, elk, and bison around them, and an eagle overhead. It honours Indigenous soldiers and veterans who have fought for the country, even at times when the country wasn't treating them right. It stands in Confederation Park, where several military monuments reside.

Just up the street, occupying the very heart of Confederation Square, is the National War Memorial, seen here during the Tulip Festival. It was first dedicated to the dead of the First World War in 1939, and has since been rededicated, including the Second World War, Korean War, South African War, Afghan War, and those who have served and died in military service to the country. It is here today that the national service of remembrance is to be held.

The Canadian War Museum is at Lebreton Flats, just west of the downtown core, telling the story of Canadian military history, at home and abroad. It looks like a bunker, or a massive bomber plane, which is entirely appropriate for its subject material.

Lebreton Gallery inside holds a wealth of military equipment from multiple countries and eras, here photographed from above.

As one emerges from the permanent collection, the last artifact is this. Canadian forces ended the First World War at the Belgian town of Mons, where they presented two field guns to the people of the town, saying that these were the last guns fired on the enemy before the Armistice. For the centennial of the ending of the war, Mons presented this one back to the people of Canada, and now it has a place of pride here.

The War Memorial features the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at its base. An unknown Canadian soldier who fell at the Battle of Vimy Ridge is now buried there. His original gravestone occupies the Memorial Chamber inside the Museum. The building is designed and angled so that at 11 in the morning on November 11th, provided the sun is shining, sunlight will shine through an overhead window and illuminate the stone.

In Honour Of Their Memory

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada, and Armistice Day and Veterans Day elsewhere. On this date in 1918, the guns of the Great War fell silent across Europe. It is a day of commemoration for the fallen of war.

These photographs are from last year in my photoblog, taken at the National War Memorial here in Ottawa, where today a national service will take place.

The ceremony itself begins with the march in of the veterans, led by the pipes and drums.

After the ceremony is done, the pipes and drums lead the march past.

Veterans are right behind.

It also includes active members from each branch of the Canadian Forces.

I close this post with two statues by the same artist, Ruth Abernethy, both larger than life, and both a twin of the other. The first is here in Ottawa, on Green Island where the Rideau River meets the Ottawa River. Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae was the Canadian soldier, doctor, and poet who wrote the poem In Flanders Fields during the First World War, and would not live to see that war's end.

The other version of the statue is here in his home town- Guelph, in southern Ontario, where it stands outside the city's Civic Museum. In his hand he grips a notebook, with the first words to his most famous poem inscribed on the bronze page. A man whose words have left a lasting impact upon the world.

Paying Final Respects To The Fallen

Later this week sees Remembrance Day. November 11th is also known as Veterans Day or Armistice Day elsewhere, but here in Canada, it is Remembrance Day, a day to pay our respects to those who served in war, and those who died in it.  

These first shots are from several years ago, on a spring day when I visited Beechwood Cemetery, a historic cemetery in Ottawa with the graves of many prominent people, locally and nationally. Two sections of this large property have been set aside as a national military cemetery, and this is one of them, with the tombstones done in the same manner as originally laid out by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, a legacy of the First World War that carries on its work today.

I attend the national service held at the Canadian War Memorial, which occupies the very heart of Confederation Square. I usually choose a spot ideal for watching the parade past after the ceremony has ended. It begins with bagpipes.

Followed by the veterans- a smaller group by the year.

Active services follow them. A very solemn and moving ceremony, and one that draws out the public each year.

Blowing Up History, Yet Again

Egotistical Director Plans To Mangle British History; Reporters Irritated

Los Angeles (AP) If Jane Austen were around today, she might start a book with the following: "It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that an egomaniac is in want of a mirror." It applied earlier this week for this reporter, along with a number of real reporters, who were summoned to the headquarters of Platinum Dunes, one of the production companies that serves as home to the world's most self absorbed director. No, not Quentin Tarantino, but he comes close (editor: good one, that guy is a jackass). To make things worse, there was a horde of entertainment reporters, that vapid lot of stupid twits who work for such poorly esteemed outlets like Entertainment Tonight.

Gathered together with that pack of idiots in an auditorium, the real reporters were wondering what dreck the egomaniac would be announcing this time. After all, there was a serious backlog of his projects still in the pipeline, and time was moving along. At length, a staff member came up to the podium and called out, "Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, please welcome the greatest gift to cinema in the history of forever... Michael! Bay!!!!!"

The entertainment reporter broke out into rapturous applause. The real reporters sighed and checked their watches or phones for the time. Bay came out on stage, grinning as usual like an idiot, his hair dishevelled as always, with a couple of day's worth of stubble, and dressed relatively casually. He pointed to some of the entertainment reporters cheering him, laughed, and made his way to the podium. A full length mirror had been set up beside it, where he winked at his reflection (editor: he really is in love with himself).

"Hello!" Bay called, still grinning. "Thanks for coming! But of course you had to come. Everyone loves knowing what I'm doing and what I'm filming and how I'm going to win the Oscars. You know, an idea came to mind for me a few months back. Everyone loved my film Pearl Harbor." (editor: no, they didn't.) "My attention to detail of a major historical event. So why not do the same, but go further back in time? Now the problem with this story would be that well, I can't really go with the barely dressed babes waxing cars angle that I like for my movies... because for the story I wanna tell, everyone was overdressed, and cars hadn't been invented yet."

Bay paused before continuing. "Everyone who knows me knows how much I love explosions. Pyrotechnics on film are a big thing for me. I'm happy doing it this way, because if I wasn't in film, I probably would have ended up a bomber, because that's how much I love explosions. At least this way it's legal. But I'm getting off track. Because the story I want to tell is one of an explosion that didn't actually happen- but put in a twist by having the whole second act of the film being a dream sequence of what would have happened if the explosion had actually happened. Which is why I'm doing prep work for a major bio-pic historical drama, Guy Fawkes."

Guy Fawkes, whose name is still used today in Britain as part of Bonfire Night. The Catholic conspirator who failed to set off an explosion that would have wiped out Parliament. The so called Gunpowder Plot. That Guy Fawkes, whose face today is used by random anarchists who don't see the irony and never learned their history. That Guy Fawkes (editor: he's got to be out of his mind. The British will never let him hear the end of this one).

"You have got to be joking," this reporter stated.

"Why do people say that?" Bay asked. "Ladies and gentlemen, for the central role of this film, playing Guy Fawkes, the central member of the conspiracy, I give you one of my favourite actors, Nicolas Cage!!!"

Cage stumbled out on stage, carrying a half empty bottle of scotch in one hand. "Hey there!" He walked over and shook hands with Bay. "It's gonna be a blast playing this guy Fawkes. Or Fox. Who really cares? The point is we're gonna blow a lot up before the film's done. It'll be epic. It'll be tragic. It'll get me an Oscar. Right, Mike?"

"Right! And me too!" Bay exclaimed. "Now this being a period drama, we can't really go with my stand by Aerosmith doing the main theme, but that's not going to stop us from doing something for the end credits with the band. Maybe with the word gunpowder in the title." (editor: is Aerosmith still even together? Are they still alive?)

"You do realize you're stomping on actual history, right?" another reporter asked.

"That's what they said about Pearl Harbor and my angle of a Japanese attack getting in the way of a love triangle," Bay answered. "But that's not the point. The point is Fawkes envisioning the plot succeeding, and us seeing it all through his eyes. The point is Fawkes getting to see Parliament blown up- explosions and all- but then to wake up and realize that he was just dreaming. I get it, I can't change history. Can't go back there and help Fawkes blow the place up. But the second best thing is to portray what might have happened on screen before re-entering history as it happened."

"You do realize that most historians don't tend to play the what if game, right?" this reporter asked. 

"Do I look like I care what historians think?" Bay countered. "Look, all that really matters here is giving the audience what they want. And what they want is explosions. And wrecking shit. And more explosions. Lots of explosions. I know this, because I know my audience. And they love the same things I love. And I really love explosions."

"And does it matter to you that you might alienate the British?" another reporter inquired.

Bay shrugged. "Not really, no."

The real reporters collectively sighed in dismay, but it was drowned out by the applause of the entertainment reporters. Bay and Cage smiled and waved, and headed off stage. This reporter shook his head and took his leave of the place- all the while wondering a few things. What would Guy Fawkes think about having his name dragged through the mud by a hack director (editor: good point)? And what would he think of being portrayed by Nicolas Cage. After all, Cage is a drunkard with expensive spending habits and a ridiculous hairline (editor: beyond ridiculous).

Whatever was going to come of all this, a film by Bay would only end ugly. And with too many explosions.