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Ottawa
Raging Grannies sing for Cindy Sheehan
May 4th, 2006 Report by Grannie Pat  Photo (video still) courtesy of Qais Ghanem. Cindy Sheehan is at the far left. Read Dr. Ghanem's poem for Cindy and see other photos Well, it certainly was an evening not to be missed. I might have skipped it if the Grannies had not been asked to come, thinking I knew all about this Cindy Sheehan. Impressive is what she is. Her voice is soft, her manner gentle. She made us laugh often with her ironic twists on events, and her regret was painful at not having become active against the war while her son still lived. She's forthright, though. On standing for her rights: (paraphrasing), " I never ask for permits. Why ask for the right to do what I already have the right to do? The sidewalk's public, the country's public. It's my country." To a questioner asking about impeaching the President: "He's an imposter. We didn't elect him. He's in my White House. Get him out of my House. We don't want him impeached. We want him evicted." To another questioner who queried the sense of leaving Iraq without achieving the good intentions we're told we're there for: "I get this question every time I give a talk, almost word for word. We're told the Iraqi's hate us for our democracy and freedom. Now we want to impose that hated democracy and freedom on them, after killing many of them by bombing, etc. It's their country. They should make the decisions. I think the attitude expressed in the question is racist." She was inspiring. Now to the Grannies. I thought we did much better this time, and I think it was because we had enough time to rehearse. There were ten of us: Corinne, (who led me to the right place and also agreed to sing this time - thank-you, thank-you), Jo, (working hard behind the scenes as well), Rosalie, Jeanette, Alma, Ria, Loris, Tudy, Mary (thanks for the lift home) and moi. I introduced us briefly and intro'd our first song, which sounded pretty good to me. I was turning back to the mic to intro our second song when somebody gave the note for it. Some Grannies took up that note, others looked to me for the note as we had agreed. So I gave the note, which may not have been the same one. Anyway, it was a rough beginning to the song but we all found our way to the tune and from there we were all right. I always think each song needs an introduction. When we set up a song, it creates anticipation in the audience and they listen better to the words. We were the only music on the program and had only two songs, so we didn't need to be in that much of a hurry. Also, if somebody else would like to give the note for the songs, that's fine, but we should decide that before going on stage. All in all, though, the evening (including us) was a success. Congratulations to Jo for all her dedicated work in bringing it about. Also, it was so nice to see Winnie there in the audience after so long. Winnie said we sounded great. Close Window to Return to Index |
Ottawa
Raging Grannies