Royal City Rag – September 5

Billy Bragg

The start of Royal City Rag on September 5 had a distinct labour flavour, with music by icons Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie and Billy Bragg. There may be some of you who would quibble about including the Bard of Barking (Bragg) in such exalted company but over the years he really has done a great deal to support the rights of the downtrodden worker. You can catch Billy Bragg in Hamilton at the Studio in Hamilton Place on November 18.

Later in the first hour, freelance journalist Bob Gordon and Judy Martin from the Sierra Club joined us to for the latest installment in what is rapidly becoming the Hanlon Creek Business Park fiasco. 

The City of Guelph spinmeisters have been falling over themselves to paint the opposition to the business park as just a small band of misguided activists holding the city to ransom.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

As Judy pointed out, well-known and respected local organisations such as the Sierra Club, Guelph Chapter of the Council of Canadians, Wellington Waterwatchers and Guelph Urban Forest Friends have all expressed concern about the project as currently envisaged.

They don’t necessarily want it stopped but they would like more changes made to protect the area’s sensitive ecology, endangered wildlife, and aquifier groundwater recharge important for our water supply.

Read this post to get a better understanding of the well-orchestrated public relations campaign the city has been running.

As Bob Gordon put it, it may be a well-run campaign and you can admire it for that but is it fair or accurate?

The Guelph Mercury, in a recent editorial, called the city out over the hyperbole they have been using,  in what some would say, is a deliberate attempt by the City to demonize the occupation and alienate the activists from the general population of Guelph.

The project is now on hold to next Spring which hopefully will give the City time to consider re-engaging some of those with concerns or, of course, they could just try bullying everyone into submission.

What seems clear is that it ain’t over till it’s over, and this issue is far from over.

Look for it to be an issue in next year’s municipal elections if it doesn’t get resolved fairly swiftly.  We’ll endevour to keep you updated.

In the second hour, we caught with Magee McGuire at the Big Umbrella at the Guelph Farmers Market and talked to local author Sandra Sabatini, about her most recent book, Dante’s War. Sandra will be reading at the Eden Mills Writers Festival  on September 20.

We  finished the show with a conversation with Culture Vulture Marie about some of the other authors to look out for at the festival. Check out the cool festival website  at www.edenmillswritersfestival.ca for more details.

All in all, I thought it was a great show. Feedback would, of course, be appreciated.

Music:
Eve Goldberg, Rosie The Riveter Revisited from Crossing The Water
Pete Seeger, Deliver The Goods from Talking Union
Billy Bragg, There Is Power In Union from The Essential Billy Bragg
Woody Guthrie, This Land Is Your Land from The Ultimate Collection
Billy Bragg, Waiting For The Great Leap Forward from The Essential Billy Bragg
Nina Simone, Backlash Blues from The Nina Simone Story
Scott Merritt, Moving Day from Gravity Is Mutual
Steve Earle, To Live Is To Fly from Townes
Catie Curtis, 100 Miles from Hello Stranger
Sam Turton, Without Love from Feel

Listen to the show:
Part 1:

Part 2:

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Coming Up On Royal City Rag… A Mixed Bag Of Nuts!

Not sure what to do on a Saturday morning?

I’d suggest that you head downtown to the Guelph Farmers Market to buy some local produce and sample the delights this city has to offer. 

But, before you do that, why not start your day with a nice cup of coffee and CFRU 93.3fm’s Royal City Rag?

Two hours of chat about community issues and coming events in Guelph with some cool music thrown into the mix.

This week we’ll be talking about the true meaning of Labour Day, and following up on this week’s exciting installment of the local soap opera known as the Hanlon Creek Business Park with local freelance journalist Bob Gordon and Judy Martin from the Sierra Club.

The big question we’ll be asking this week is…

Will the Hanlon Creek Business Park and Jefferson Salamander come back to haunt Karen Farbridge in 2010?

After all, it is an election year. Promises to be an interesting twelve months.

In the second hour, we’ll be catching up on some of the artistic goings-on around town with a special emphasis on the upcoming Eden Mills Writers Festival featuring Culture Vulture, Marie and local author, Sandra Sabatini.

We’ll also touch base with Magee McGuire at the Big Umbrella Table at the Guelph Farmers Market.

Sounds like it will be lots of fun. Don’t miss it!

Royal City Rag, Saturday 7-9 a.m. on CFRU 93.3fm. A great way to start your day!

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Royal City Rag, March 14 – Doug Larson And Sandra Sabatini

A special two-hour Saturday Royal City Rag as I was filling in for my good friend, and, host of Chelsea Morning on CFRU 93.3fm, Alden Hadwen. As this was Canadian Music Week, all the music on the show was by Canadian artists.

In the first hour Guelph author Sandra Sabatini joined us on the phone to talk about her new novel Dante’s War. Dante’s War will be launched at The Bookshelf on March 16 at 7.00 p.m.

University of Guelph Botany Professor, musician and guitar , Doug Larson joined us live in the studio during the second hour of the show to talk about the Guelph Guitar Project.

Doug, leader of local band Kid Coma also played the Guelph Guitar live in the studio.

The Guelph Guitar Project has a show at the Guelph Youth Music Centre on March 22.

Music:
Mary Margaret O’Hara, A New Day from Miss America
Stephen Fearing, The Longest Road from The Man Who Married Music
James Gordon, Small Time Prairie Gigs from Endomusia
Wayne Petti, Moment By Moment from City Lights Align
Sam Turton, I Wanna Go Downtown from Guelph Speaks Volume 2, More Space
Jenn Grant, Heartbreaker from Echoes
KD Lang, Shadow And The Frame from Watershed
Stephen Fearing, No Dress Rehearsal from The Man Who Married Music
Kid Coma, Omar Bradley from Complete Metamorphosis
Doug Larson (Live), The Enemy Within from Nightmares and Dreamers

Listen to the show:
Part 1

Part 2

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Book Launch, Dante’s War By Sandra Sabatini – March 16

Sandra Sabatini will be launching her new novel, Dante’s War, at The Bookshelf  on March 16 at 7.00 p.m.

Sandra will be joining us for a chat on CFRU 93.3fm during a special Saturday morning edition of Royal City Rag from 7-9 a.m. on March 14.

Dante’s War

For the first time in English fiction, the Second World War is explored from the point of view of ordinary people on the Axis side, two young Italian lovers.

In Dante’s War, author Sandra Sabatini explores the effects of war on the ordinary people who fought on very different fronts: in the vast wasteland of North Africa and in the green hills of Nazi-occupied Italy. Dante and Angelina, both fiercely independent for all their youth, meet and fall in love on the eve of Dante’s deployment to North Africa in 1940. While Dante becomes an accomplished mechanic, working on German fighter planes, Angelina contends with the presence of German soldiers in her small town and the evil that they introduce into her world. Apart from one another, the two must fight their own battles and summon the strength to endure in order to find each other again.

Sabatini’s novel was inspired by her father-in-law’s own story as an Italian airplane mechanic during the war and how he met his future wife in Rome. “While most of what happens in the larger context is based on historical events, the kernel of the story comes from him,” explains Sabatini.

Rich with fascinating historical detail, Dante’s War is both a tender love story and a powerful meditation on loyalty—loyalty to one’s country, to one’s community, and, ultimately, to oneself.

“Dante’s War is beautifully crafted and written. What I admire about it most is that Sandra Sabatini understands how things work: fearsome machines and weapons of war, national governments and small towns, and—most impressively—the human heart.”
 — Paul Quarrington, award-winning author of The Ravine and King Leary

“During a bitter war, a sweet love story…. Sabatini is a magician who makes innocence and experience coexist.”
 — Annabel Lyon, author of The Best Thing for You (on Dante’s War)
 
“It’s all here: an empathy with characters… a sly sense of humour… a sharp eye for the minutiae.”
— The Montreal Gazette (on The Dolphins of Sainte-Marie)

“A wonderful collection. Sabatini’s stories are superbly crafted, her characters vivid, their lives ultra-present and felt. Here are the fresh, piercing hurts and fast hardening revelations of growing up.”
— Lisa Moore, award-winning author of Alligator (on The Dolphins of Sainte-Marie)

“Sabatini piles on the small observations of life, the ironies, disappointments, and delights, while evoking a direct response in her reader. This is a writer to watch.”
— Quill & Quire (starred review, The Dolphins of Sainte-Marie)

“This book shines best, and often fascinates, in its unsparing portraits of those who must witness and try to ease a terrible descent.”
— The Globe and Mail (on The One With the News)

About the author

Sandra Sabatini (photo: Trina Koster)

SANDRA SABATINI’s first story collection, The One with the News, was shortlisted for the Upper Canada Writers’ Craft Award. The title story was shortlisted for the Journey Prize, as was the title story in The Dolphins at Sainte-Marie. Her fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and journals. Sabatini lives in Guelph, Ontario, with her husband and five children. Dante’s War is her first novel.

Dante’s War
A Novel

• By Sandra Sabatini
• $27.95 hardcover
• ISBN13 978-1-55470-113-1
• Available: 11 March 2009

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Unlucky in Love? Head to The Bookshelf E-Bar on February 13

Sounds like a lot of fun whether you are currently relationship-challenged or not… or just love the spoken and written word.

The Eden Mills Writers Festival have a fundraiser at the E-Bar on February 13 from 7.00 – 9.00 p.m. entitled “Unlucky in Love”. Tickets are $13.00 at the door.

The evening will feature readings by Leon Rooke, Stephen Henighan, Sandra Sabatini and Paul Quarrington as well as an open mic for you to read your own stories of lost or unrequited love.  There will be prizes for the best stories, after voting by the audience.

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Chelsea Morning – February 7

I had the opportunity to sit in for my good friend and host of CFRU 93.3fm’s music show Chelsea Morning, Alden Hadwen, on February 7. 

In the first hour we had an interview with author Sandra Sabatini who will be taking part in the Eden Mills Writers Festival fundraiser, “Unlucky in Love”, at The Bookshelf E-Bar on February 13 from 7 – 9 p.m. with Leon Rooke, Stephen Henighan  and Paul Quarrington. Sandra has a new novel coming out in March entitled “Dante’s War”.

In the second hour, Guelph poet Beth-Anne Fischer joined me for a chat and to read some poetry composed especially for the show! 

Beth-Anne will be coordinating an open mic portion at the Eden Mills Writers Festival fundraiser where you can read your own stories of lost or unrequited love. There will be prizes for the best stories, after voting by the audience.

Tickets for the fundraiser are $13.00 at the door.

Hope you enjoy the show as much as I did putting it together!

Music:
Mary Margaret O’Hara, A New Day from Miss America
The Acorn, Hold Your Breath from Glory Hope Mountain
James Gordon, If You Hear The River Call from Pipe Street Dreams
Eddi Reader, Muddy Water from Peacetime
Mike Mucci, For R.M. from Under The Tulip Tree
Bon Iver, For Emma from For Emma, Forever Ago
Randy Newman, Losing You from Harps And Angels
Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain from Brokeback Mountain (soundtrack)
Proclaimers, Life With You from Life With You
Tannis Slimmon, Our Time Now from Lucky Blue
Sam Turton, Without Love from Feel
Sue Smith, I Caught Myself Falling from I’m So
Carl Strygg, Make Me Do Anything You Want from Sings The Classics
Nick Lowe, Love’s Got A lot To Answer For from At My Age
Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers from Asking For Flowers
Warren Zevon, Keep Me In Your Heart For A While from The Wind

Listen to the show:
Part 1

Part 2

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Coming up on Royal City Rag – February 4

The Eden Mills Writers Festival have a fundraiser at the E-Bar on February 13 from 7.00 – 9.00 p.m. entitled “Unlucky in Love”.

The evening will feature readings by Leon Rooke, Stephen Henighan, Sandra Sabatini and Paul Quarrington as well as an open mic for you to read your own stories of lost or unrequited love.  There will be prizes for the best stories, after voting by the audience.

Tickets are $13.00 at the door.

We’ll be devoting the whole of Royal City Rag on February 4 to the fundraiser.

Jane Hastings from the Eden Mills Writers Festival, Dan Evans from The Bookshelf and author Stephen Henighan will be joining us live in the studio.

Promises to be lots of fun.

Listen live, Wednesday 6-7 p.m., or after the fact via the website or CFRU archive.

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