Tuesday, 23 August 2022

HURONIA



it's a hospital and a school 
w/ 'cottages' for those less fortunate
(or so they would like us to believe)
 
in orillia ontario
out of sight, out of mind

dedicated to robert c. batho


it's nuclear cartoons
I just ran w/it





H U R O N I A
volume up/720p












labour of love

grandfather
mother's side - deaf mute in the 30's - 60's
bob & mona, same deal
married - 3 kids

he could read a whole newspaper
in 18 minutes!  I clocked him once
ok he skipped half but still
dropping his paper in that dark living room
old musty furniture
looking at me
smiling

intelligent
well read - engraver by trade & painter/artist
truly gifted but he was damaged
hired then fired again & again
amazing work, but apparently?
difficult to work with

you know ... a little cuckoo (wink)
ok, he grunted a lot - always that scowl
that musky smell in those worn suspenders
he's been wearing for years

pipe smoke transgression 
if looks could kill






when he laughed
I thought the ceiling would cave in
scary if you didn't know him
idiot, freak, retarded

I mean, he deserved more
grandpa batho was eccentric
and he smelled bad AND ya he was
a fucking freakshow
exit stage left
a necessary shift
for 'safety'

no one understood him
he drank and publicly
punched a policeman in the face
not good for a deaf & dumb, unemployed
intoxicated misfit

stamped and stunned
sent to St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital
for the rest of his life
we visited him there (60's)
it was actually quite humane

Huronia was a whole different story
more severe, detached
all relevant

if grandpa hadn't been British stock
he would have been sent to Huronia
I'm convinced of that now

our caste system
is still alive & well in Ontario Canada
money talks - and

we just pretend better







optimized for night vision



a jim lamarche remix
from the album THREE LIVES
assembled in logic audio & final cut

featuring the roland system 8







inspired by the CBC documentary
Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children
Directed by Barri Cohen




clip footage from
Carrieanne Tomkins
Memories of the Ontario Hospital School
Orillia
Directed by Mitchell Wilson









read more of Jim's blog posts here 
see the ONE LIFE album/page here >>>
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/onelife/




see the new TWO LIVES album/page here >>>
http://www.jimlamarche.ca/twolives/




see the new THREE LIVES album/page here >>>


a parting thought production






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