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March/April 2006 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Feature: Titanic ice In-depth: On ice Feature: Dance of the dunlins Feature: Off the rails Feature: Being caribou The Inside Story Editor’s Notebook Reverberations Explorer À la carte Mosaic

Music to our ears
An issue highlighting the close relationship between landscape and music was daring, imaginative and highly successful. "Neighbours in song" (CG Jan/Feb 2006), had a special resonance for me. I am a member of a Toronto community choral group, The Serenata Singers, which is celebrating 30 years of concerts this year. I have learned much about choral singing from our director, Audrey McLeod, and I have experienced the joy — even exaltation — of sharing folk, ethnic, Broadway and spiritual songs with an audience.

Don Hazell
Toronto

I enjoyed Charles Foran’s article on the bhangra scene in Greater Vancouver and the world ("Bhangra beat," CG Jan/Feb 2006). In the early 1990s, Dal Dil Vogt (Heart of the Garden), a bhangra/rock fusion band from Surrey, B.C., showed up in a local Prince George club and blew the audience away. With dhols, electric guitars, keyboards and a drum kit, they kept us on our feet. They taught us bhangra dancing, explaining that you only have to move to the beat and imagine you are screwing in a light bulb with one hand and opening a door with the other. Some of the band members had relatives in Prince George’s sizable Sikh community, and they returned to play several more times, always to a full house. Many light bulbs got changed, and many doors were opened.

Bob Rutherford
Prince George, B.C.

I was delighted with your departure from the usual and with the most informative content of the music issue. One rare instrument of little public note in Canada is the grand carillon in the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. It is played expressively from a large console that has a keyboard with baton-like keys, pedals and cast-bronze bells of many sizes. The design of the instrument has changed little over the years. I understand the carillon is possibly the largest, and undoubtedly the heaviest, musical instrument in the world.

James Slater
Scarborough, Ont.

On a trip to Prince Edward Island last August, my wife and I attended ceilidhs almost every night in community halls that were packed to the rafters. We arrived a little late for our first one in Brackley Beach. While the kind folks were finding us a pair of seats in the crowded hall, I had a chance to chat with the gentleman at the door. He turned out to be the father of Cynthia MacLeod, the main attraction that night. I enjoyed the idea that when we bought MacLeod’s album, we handed the money to her mother. When we bought ice cream and strawberries, we were purchasing them from MacLeod’s grandmother.

We will head out to Alberta in June, and I am sure we will find many opportunities to hear good local music as we tour the small towns southwest of Calgary. The music experience that you can discover as you travel across Canada is fabulous.

Grant Leigh
Toronto

Any requests?
We can’t imagine a Canadian musical landscape ("The musical landscape," CG Jan/Feb 2006) without the Barenaked Ladies. Their musical talent and humour are strictly Canadian, and they have been able to share that with the rest of the world.

Diane and John Dalton
Eatontown, New Jersey

I loved the latest edition, but I was disappointed that Ian and Sylvia Tyson were not featured in "The musical landscape." These two talented artists provided a unique and beautiful blend of harmony and lyrics to the Canadian and U.S. folk scenes in the 1960s. Indeed, they were ahead of the pack in featuring French songs about Canada and its rich culture.

Philip Brown
Libertyville, Illinois

I was rather dismayed at some glaring omissions among the musical celebrities portrayed in "The musical landscape." Where is Ben Heppner? Not to mention Ernest MacMillan, Mart Kenney, Jon Vickers, Léopold Simoneau, Judith Forst, Lois Marshall, Jon Kimura Parker, Angela Hewitt, Tommy Banks? Too many? Not if you eliminate a few of those rock-popschlock performers of questionable memorability.

Rev. Basil Foote
Mission, B.C.

I did not see a single mention of Vancouver’s Loverboy in "The musical landscape." It was Loverboy that took the world by storm in 1980 and became international stars practically overnight, paving the way for a multitude of Canadian musicians to follow. After 25 years, the band is still together, still recording and still touring yearly, chiefly through Canada and the United States, to sold-out crowds. And they still live in Canada! Not all Canadian musicians can say that anymore. Last October, Loverboy was inducted into the West Coast Music Hall of Fame. I can’t believe the lack of recognition for this great legendary band of ours.

S. Bergman
Alberta

While I enjoyed most aspects of your music issue, I was surprised by the lack of mention of Canada’s healthy, wellestablished bluegrass community. With summer festivals from Souris, P.E.I., to Sooke and Dawson Creek, B.C., regular concerts, small but vibrant pockets of bluegrass jamming and not-for-profit societies throughout the country, this aspect of Canadian music and culture would have been a welcome addition to your examination of music and its place within our country.

Donald Teplyske
Red Deer, Alta.

I loved the music issue, but I must comment on a glaring omission in "The CG playlist" (CG Jan/Feb 2006): George Fox’s "Clearly Canadian" (Mustang Heart, 1993). It could almost be our anthem, and any part is sure to inspire a "lyrical landscape."

Ray Green
Winnipeg

I enjoyed the issue, but how could you miss Shania Twain!

Ray Bonenberg
Pembroke, Ont.

More mining matters
Contrary to comments by Chris Hodgson, president of the Ontario Mining Association ("Reverberations," CG Jan/Feb 2006), I would like to report that jackleg drills are still very much in use. They are one of the reasons that old gold mines have been reopening. Jacklegs can follow narrow gold veins and cause less disruption and tailings waste than bulk-mining techniques. Environmentally, this means less acid mine drainage.

If Hodgson would like to venture north of Toronto, he can see jackleg miners in action at the annual Cobalt Miners’ Festival. Should he wish to go underground and see jackleg miners at work, I would recommend the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake, Ont. It has many jackleg miners and is looking for more.

Hodgson notes safety is always a concern in mines. Igor Lobko of Kirkland Lake recently died after falling approximately 60 metres down a vertical shaft. Farther from home, another 12 miners died in a West Virginia coal mine in January.

Paul Filteau
Thunder Bay, Ont.

Sounding board
Which band has album covers that feature maple leafs, a beaver stamp, or a canoe? They also have album titles like "Melville" and "Music Inspired by the Group of Seven."

The Rheostatics were a curious omission in the Canadian Geographic Music Issue. Their song "We Went West" conveys the experiences shared by many Canadians who have driven across this country.

Jim Letourneau
Calgary, Alta.

I grew up listening to Joni Mitchell’s albums and my favourite was Blue. I am amazed that when I hear a particular song from that album I am still able to sing along, and remember all of the words!  I am also pleased to know my 18-year-old daughter enjoys "River" and some of Joni’s other songs.

It has been too long, so I just ordered Blue. Can’t wait to listen to it while skating on the pond or lake!

Carol Michaud

I have just finished reading the January/February issue on the "musical landscape" of Canada, and I enjoyed it very much. I have to wonder, however, why classical music was not included in the issue. Are there no Canadian writers and musicians you consider notable?

Joan Gregoire
Kanata, Ont.

I thought it was very strange that Dane Lanken’s article, "The Musical Landscape", in the current issue of CG made no special mention of Ian and Sylvia. This duo was a huge international success, easily as influential as Anne Murray or Joni Mitchell among others mentioned or featured on the timeline printed with the article. After breaking up as a duo, both Ian Tyson and Sylvia Tyson have continued as renowned performers.

Rev. Greg Skala
Sooke, B.C.

Praise to all for an excellent issue. As a photographer for more than 60 years, it is rewarding to see such fine examples of "seeing" as the photo contest winners.

I also enjoyed the "Musical Landscape". It reminded me of the many Canadian artists who I had the privilege to see through the years. In the early ’50’s, I was a music librarian at CKOC in Hamilton, and I recall that we programmed a great deal of Canadian talent. This was undoubtedly because the assistant manager of the station was Lyman Potts, who ultimately formed The Canadian Talent Library.

R. Paul Fitzsimons
Mississauga, Ont.

After scouring of "The Music Issue" of Canadian Geographic, searching for an article on Powell River’s musical contributions to B.C. and Canada, I was perplexed and quite disappointed to find that we rated no mention at all. Go to any search engine and type in "music Powell River", should you need sources of information on music in my town, which was designated a Canadian cultural capital, hosts one of the top five international choral festivals (Kathaumixw) and is home to numerous musical talents. Better yet, make plans to come here this summer for the 2006 International Kathaumixw choral festival and see for yourself!

Heather Berger
Host of "Cool Jazz and Hot Swing" on CJMP community radio
Powell River, B.C.

Peak view
In regard to the Exploration article on bald eagles in the November/December issue, I enjoyed the article very much as its topic is in my own back yard. I have fished the waters of the Squamish River and filmed the bald eagles. It is a pleasure and a treasure to have such ready access to this part of nature.

I take issue with the picture at the top of page 38, however. The snow-covered peak in the picture is none other than Mount Garibaldi and not Diamond Head as noted. Diamond Head is, in fact, several kilometers to the southeast of the peak in the picture. I have the extreme good fortune to be able to see both from the comfort of my backyard.

Nelson Winterburn
Squamish, B.C.

Mercury rising
I greatly enjoyed reading the November/December issue of Canadian Geographic. The article "The Price of Peace" was particularly interesting and informative. The article made reference to reports of elevated mercury levels in the La Grande reservoirs and the presence of levels of mercury three to five times higher than background levels found in predatory fish such as pike and walleye - both traditional Cree foods. On pages 78 and 79 the following statement is made: "No study has shown that the mercury directly harmed the health of the Cree, but little is known about the effects of long-term exposure to the toxin." The author does not define exactly what he means by "long-term."

On the contrary, a great deal is known about the long-term effects of human exposure to organic mercury, the compounds of which are very damaging. One only needs to read the book Minamata, by W. Eugene and Aileen Smith, to realize how deadly long-term exposure to mercury compounds can be. They can attack all body systems and produce a wide range of symptoms, as happened in the case of the residents of the Minamata Bay area of Japan who were dependent to a large measure on fish caught in the bay. Some of the long-term effects of eating the fish contaminated with mercury (alleged to have been discharged into the bay by the Chisso Corporation) included the birth of severely retarded and deformed children, and brain damage in previously healthy children. Adults were also seriously affected.

Michael J. Hewitt
Kamloops, B.C.

War stories
One would think from visiting the new war museum in Ottawa that a large part of Canadian military history is on life support, not quite dead.

A visitor would hardly know Canada, as a French colony, was involved in a number of wars against native populations, principally the Mohawks and their allies, and against the British colonists to the south. More than 150 years of regular military action is given short shrift until the fall of Quebec in 1759. Then little but lip service is paid to the effects of the American Revolution and the War of 1812 on the development of Canada. The First World War fares somewhat better after the collection lily dips through the intervening years.

Physically impressive as the museum is, I believe too much is dedicated to the Second World War and especially the Cold War. As a whole, the museum skews the history of Canada in favour of the last half of the 20th century.

We all know the last century was one of bloody sacrifice and we honour those who served. Let us not forget those who helped forge this nation during the first 300 years of our history.

Michael Whittaker
Merrickville, Ont.

I was overjoyed to see the current issue on musical landscapes. This had been the title and content of my Master’s thesis in geography (Carleton University ’92). I was even more excited on reading Julie Gedeon’s article on generating music from satellite images since I had spent 15 years working in the field of remote sensing. It makes perfect sense, especially in the digital age, to convert image to music or vice versa.

When you hear a piece of music, you are instantly transported back to the time and place and significance that the music had for you when you first heard it and grew to love it (or perhaps hate it). You remember the people around you, the social and political scene, as well as the other musical sounds of the time and place. You can also feel the mood of the piece and picture (urban or country, prairie or mountain, lakeside or seaside) represented in the melodies and harmonies. Music carries with it a great geographic, historic, and socio-cultural importance. It captures the life pulse of the land and people.

In my teen and early university years in Montreal, I came to know some of the roots of Canadian music of that time. At a local coffee house (The Web in Ste. Anne de Bellevue), I first heard Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne. At another coffee house downtown (The Coal Bin), it was Gordon Lightfoot’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy and Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game. With the widening of TV coverage, Don Messer’s Jubilee and later Anne Murray and friends brought a vision of the east coast, while Lightfoot, Lenny Breau, the Guess Who, and others brought a view from points further west. Live shows brought Lightfoot and Three’s a Crowd to EXPO 67, Ian and Sylvia to Place Des Arts, and various artists from The Guess Who to Robert Charlebois to the Forum, where I could hear them. Place and music were tightly linked together.

After moving to Ottawa in the early 1970s, there was a big surge in Francophone music: Gille Vigneault played Lebreton Flats, as did the bilungual McGarrigle Sisters; Louise Forestier was at the National Arts Centre; UZEB was at Nepean Point under the statue of Champlain; and Roch Voisine and many others at the Franco-Ontarian Festival. I was beginning to think, as Celine had sung, Where does my heart beat now? Then came the aboriginal sounds of Buffy Ste. Marie by the old ruins on Victoria Island and by the banks of the Ottawa River at the Museum of Civilization. More recently, throat singers moaned and wailed at the NAC fourth stage. Connie Kaldor brought humour and song from the Prairies. Bruce Cockburn and Valdy raised our eyes to environmental and global concerns, while Tom Jackson’s Huron Carol shows brought food to the homeless.

While the big national and international groups grace the stages of the big stadiums and arts centres, the backbone of the music still hums in the clubs, bars, cafes, and (now) living rooms as musicians do their circuits through the cities, small towns, and country halls of the nation. All of them form an integral part of our life beat, landscape, and sense of who we are. As different music is transported from region to region, country to country, and generation to generation, there is a growing global consciousness in everyone, and these music blends or collides, creating new genres that tell of our ever changing times, places, and social arrangements.

Thanks again for this wonderful issue.

Stephen Thirlwall

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* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.