Please visit http://www.eldorado-boreal.ca to see an homage to our colleague and poet, Juan O'Neill.
L.
Homage to Juan O'Neill
-
luciano diaz
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:07 pm
It's a SUPERB tribute
I've viewed the power point slide show many times and the photographs and the poetry really bring back Juan alive!
Hats off!
- Phil
Hats off!
- Phil
Yiddish proverb: Life is a joke
-
luciano diaz
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:07 pm
moving memorial...
Ciano,
I heard it was a very moving memorial at St. Joseph's Church.
I know, in that eternity, it meant a lot to Juan to be memorialized there.
I hear that El Dorado will be holding a special event for Juan. Juan would be deeply moved to know how much you and his buddies at El Dorado needed to give him a proper farewell, and did - at all the memorials.
As mentionned before, Juan was highly appreciative of El Dorado , of being able to preserve his Latin roots in Ottawa.
Speaking of roots, I have a great recording of Juan singing a very sweet and bewitching calypso style song he composed with a wonderful electronic musical background.
As you no doubt know already, Juan was also very proud and loving of his Caribbean roots. I often spoke to him about getting that calypso song played at the Ottawa Carib Festival. I imagined one of the floats playing his music over its sound system.
I will bring down a copy of the song, and speak to Carl Gordon to see if he can contact somebody at the Carib Festival organization to have this materialize.
Btw, relating to the El Dorado slide show tribute to Juan, what does "Hasta Siempre " mean?
Good luck with your World Poetry Day activities, and see you in Ottawa. I will contact you....
- Phil
I heard it was a very moving memorial at St. Joseph's Church.
I know, in that eternity, it meant a lot to Juan to be memorialized there.
I hear that El Dorado will be holding a special event for Juan. Juan would be deeply moved to know how much you and his buddies at El Dorado needed to give him a proper farewell, and did - at all the memorials.
As mentionned before, Juan was highly appreciative of El Dorado , of being able to preserve his Latin roots in Ottawa.
Speaking of roots, I have a great recording of Juan singing a very sweet and bewitching calypso style song he composed with a wonderful electronic musical background.
As you no doubt know already, Juan was also very proud and loving of his Caribbean roots. I often spoke to him about getting that calypso song played at the Ottawa Carib Festival. I imagined one of the floats playing his music over its sound system.
I will bring down a copy of the song, and speak to Carl Gordon to see if he can contact somebody at the Carib Festival organization to have this materialize.
Btw, relating to the El Dorado slide show tribute to Juan, what does "Hasta Siempre " mean?
Good luck with your World Poetry Day activities, and see you in Ottawa. I will contact you....
- Phil
Yiddish proverb: Life is a joke
-
luciano diaz
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Mar 20, 2006 6:07 pm
Hi Phil,
Juan will be missed. No more cofee buddy in Sandy Hill at Laurier Av. to have conversations that went from literature to every other possible topic.
It will be interesting to hear Juan's musisc. I have some footage of a video I was doing in Ottawa about poetry, some ten years ago, which is still not finished. It includes people like Juan, Marty Flomen, Seymour Maine, John Barton and many others. At some point I will finish it.
In regards to "Hasta siempre" it literally means "Until forever" it is used to express that a person will never be forgotten and will alway be present within one's "chest" of cherished memories.
See you in Ottawa Phil,
L.
Juan will be missed. No more cofee buddy in Sandy Hill at Laurier Av. to have conversations that went from literature to every other possible topic.
It will be interesting to hear Juan's musisc. I have some footage of a video I was doing in Ottawa about poetry, some ten years ago, which is still not finished. It includes people like Juan, Marty Flomen, Seymour Maine, John Barton and many others. At some point I will finish it.
In regards to "Hasta siempre" it literally means "Until forever" it is used to express that a person will never be forgotten and will alway be present within one's "chest" of cherished memories.
See you in Ottawa Phil,
L.
Juan, a Sandy Hill cafe person
Hi again, Luciano,
Yes, I can certainly sympathize with you about no more coffee buddy in Sandy Hill.
The haunts of Sandy Hill will feel curious and strange knowing that Juan is no longer around. He was , like me, a cafe person - happiest in a good cafe, good music, good relaxed atmosphere, good conversation, good coffee.
Johnny's Pizza, Timothy's Cafe, The Moon Dog (which used to be called the Four Jays, a place Juan and I frequented even back in the 1980s) will be deprived of their most colourful, erudite, customer.
I'll be bringing some photos to Ottawa with me, as well. dating back to the early 1980s. Don't forget that you are on "Death of a Mystic, Rise of an Anarchist....." , available through the Ottawa Public Library, and where Juan recites his poem, "Junkie's Prayer" as well. I'm certain I gave you a copy but if you can't find it, let me know and I'll supply you with another copy. I'm leaving a copy of "Sasquatch at the Rideau Cafe and Dunvegan" with the Sasquatch Board (ie. Chris Sorrenti). He told me he can make copies. though the picture quality is unfortunately quite poor - still worthwhile to see and hear our companiero on Rogers TV at the Rideau Cafe.
Thanks for the translation of "Hasta Siempre" ...a beautiful saying, and very relevant.
I'm planning to get people to join me at the Royal Oak on April 4th, so if you can make it, it would be great. I will confirm..
best, Phil
Yes, I can certainly sympathize with you about no more coffee buddy in Sandy Hill.
The haunts of Sandy Hill will feel curious and strange knowing that Juan is no longer around. He was , like me, a cafe person - happiest in a good cafe, good music, good relaxed atmosphere, good conversation, good coffee.
Johnny's Pizza, Timothy's Cafe, The Moon Dog (which used to be called the Four Jays, a place Juan and I frequented even back in the 1980s) will be deprived of their most colourful, erudite, customer.
I'll be bringing some photos to Ottawa with me, as well. dating back to the early 1980s. Don't forget that you are on "Death of a Mystic, Rise of an Anarchist....." , available through the Ottawa Public Library, and where Juan recites his poem, "Junkie's Prayer" as well. I'm certain I gave you a copy but if you can't find it, let me know and I'll supply you with another copy. I'm leaving a copy of "Sasquatch at the Rideau Cafe and Dunvegan" with the Sasquatch Board (ie. Chris Sorrenti). He told me he can make copies. though the picture quality is unfortunately quite poor - still worthwhile to see and hear our companiero on Rogers TV at the Rideau Cafe.
Thanks for the translation of "Hasta Siempre" ...a beautiful saying, and very relevant.
I'm planning to get people to join me at the Royal Oak on April 4th, so if you can make it, it would be great. I will confirm..
best, Phil
Yiddish proverb: Life is a joke
-
Literature_Chick
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:33 am
Sorry to have missed you Phil
I heard from Chris you were in Ottawa recently. I hope you don't mind my posting the poem I wrote for Juan here....it's really hard to wrap my mind around the fact that a little over a month ago I was up all night with him and Chris and my beloved Fergus, talking, laughing, feeding everyone....
For Juan O'Neill by Bonnie J Adams
Mid-march on the prairie,
Amidst a long awaited snow swept landscape,
Winter having finally arrived in the west
After five months of bleak grassy farmland
<>
Post-return from Ottawa
After having rescued Fergus,
After feeding you tortilla chicken soup
In Sorrenti’s kitchen, pouring out wine and soul
<>
After sitting up all night curled into you
On the sofa sharing our adventures in living
Since last we sat across one another,
After falling asleep together, you, Fergus, me
<>
I hear you singing softly
In the maroon lavender of the early morning,
Your eyes twinkling in earnest
Once more offering to give me a child.
<>
We had that conversation once
On a sunny Ottawa summer day,
Drunk on spirits and farewells
When I came to see you before I left again for the west
<>
Perhaps you never knew then
Just how deeply you touched me,
How you reached into the heart of me
And gave me what no other man ever had.
<>
“You’re a sublimely fine woman, Bonnie,
and while I might not be around to help
raise a child for long, it would be so meaningful
to me to know I gave the world a child with such a fine woman”
<>
And while that never came to fruition,
I will always hold that unrealized creation
Close to me, a talisman of a strange sort,
A comfort, a knowing that age is irrelevant when a heart is true.
<>
We spoke about that. Often.
We got to the meat and potatoes of things.
Very much Aries, we two, cut to the chase,
Mean what you say, say what you mean.
<>
The world is full of would be poets.
Sharks cleverly disguised by medium.
A true poet lives their words,
You, mon cher, epitomized this.
<>
Here on the prairie
Miles from where the Buffalo literally roam
After the thaw, I’ll look up into my night sky
I know I’ll see you dancing with the Aurora Borealis
<>
Magnetic storms.
Surely after leaving the physical form,
The dance continues, the song,
Your voice, so beloved, we’ll hear with our eyes.
03/16/2006
For Juan O'Neill by Bonnie J Adams
Mid-march on the prairie,
Amidst a long awaited snow swept landscape,
Winter having finally arrived in the west
After five months of bleak grassy farmland
<>
Post-return from Ottawa
After having rescued Fergus,
After feeding you tortilla chicken soup
In Sorrenti’s kitchen, pouring out wine and soul
<>
After sitting up all night curled into you
On the sofa sharing our adventures in living
Since last we sat across one another,
After falling asleep together, you, Fergus, me
<>
I hear you singing softly
In the maroon lavender of the early morning,
Your eyes twinkling in earnest
Once more offering to give me a child.
<>
We had that conversation once
On a sunny Ottawa summer day,
Drunk on spirits and farewells
When I came to see you before I left again for the west
<>
Perhaps you never knew then
Just how deeply you touched me,
How you reached into the heart of me
And gave me what no other man ever had.
<>
“You’re a sublimely fine woman, Bonnie,
and while I might not be around to help
raise a child for long, it would be so meaningful
to me to know I gave the world a child with such a fine woman”
<>
And while that never came to fruition,
I will always hold that unrealized creation
Close to me, a talisman of a strange sort,
A comfort, a knowing that age is irrelevant when a heart is true.
<>
We spoke about that. Often.
We got to the meat and potatoes of things.
Very much Aries, we two, cut to the chase,
Mean what you say, say what you mean.
<>
The world is full of would be poets.
Sharks cleverly disguised by medium.
A true poet lives their words,
You, mon cher, epitomized this.
<>
Here on the prairie
Miles from where the Buffalo literally roam
After the thaw, I’ll look up into my night sky
I know I’ll see you dancing with the Aurora Borealis
<>
Magnetic storms.
Surely after leaving the physical form,
The dance continues, the song,
Your voice, so beloved, we’ll hear with our eyes.
03/16/2006
hi Bonnie,
As I mentionned to Chris Sorrenti - for those who may not know.... one of the Directors of Sasquatch Poetry Performance Series in Ottawa - I much liked your poem to Juan.
I was in Sandy Hill today and went to Timothy's Coffee shop on Laurier to try to make communion with Juan. Well, what music suddenly launched over the speakers as I sat down? Good ol' Cubano fare. And something else that Juan and I would smile about as well.....
.
I guess you are back in the West. I leave Ottawa for Nelson, B.C. on Monday.
best to you and your writing....
- Phil
As I mentionned to Chris Sorrenti - for those who may not know.... one of the Directors of Sasquatch Poetry Performance Series in Ottawa - I much liked your poem to Juan.
I was in Sandy Hill today and went to Timothy's Coffee shop on Laurier to try to make communion with Juan. Well, what music suddenly launched over the speakers as I sat down? Good ol' Cubano fare. And something else that Juan and I would smile about as well.....
. I guess you are back in the West. I leave Ottawa for Nelson, B.C. on Monday.
best to you and your writing....
- Phil
Yiddish proverb: Life is a joke
-
Literature_Chick
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:33 am
Salut Phil!
Greetings from the prairie on a fine sunny spring day.
Chris did pass on to me that you read my poem for Juan and appreciated it. I am still reeling really from our loss of such a beloved friend and mentor.
I have been having quiet conversations of my own with him out here in the hinterland, every time I see or hear something that I know would tickle his fancy I can't help but stop and murmur into the sky.
What on earth possessed you to move west? And why Nelson? Not that there's anything wrong with Nelson :
:, I quite like it, despite the no dogs allowed downtown business, never could wrap my mind around that one.
If you ever find yourself with a strong desire to hang in Alberta, let me know, I'd be glad to show you some hospitality.
best regards,
Bonnie (aka Prairie Bohemian)
Chris did pass on to me that you read my poem for Juan and appreciated it. I am still reeling really from our loss of such a beloved friend and mentor.
I have been having quiet conversations of my own with him out here in the hinterland, every time I see or hear something that I know would tickle his fancy I can't help but stop and murmur into the sky.
What on earth possessed you to move west? And why Nelson? Not that there's anything wrong with Nelson :
:, I quite like it, despite the no dogs allowed downtown business, never could wrap my mind around that one. If you ever find yourself with a strong desire to hang in Alberta, let me know, I'd be glad to show you some hospitality.
best regards,
Bonnie (aka Prairie Bohemian)