Hamilton Association for the Advancement of Literature, Science and Art
1280 Main Street West Hamilton, ON, Canada

Thank you on a sunny Monday morning to poet Alexandra Oliver, whose talk Saturday prompted us to think about how poetry is especially relevant in times of crisis, how the "kingdom of the ordinary" can help unlock creativity, and how the "camera eye, radio ear" can assist a reach outward as well as inward. With help from some prompting checklists and words from poets around the world, attendees had a chance to try their hand at their own poems, too! Well-deserved applause to... all those who shared over Zoom. The Zoom video should be available on our website within a day or so, and the pdf package of readings/questions is still there to download. Go to http://www.haalsa.org/lectures.htm to find those. Photos attached: two screenshots from the evening - first, Elizabeth Bishop's poem "The Filling Station," and second, the thinking questions to accompany Gwendolyn Brooks' poem, "The Bean Eaters."

TONIGHT at 7:30pmEST: Camera Eye, Radio Ear, Poet Heart: The Secret Art of Making Verse in Interesting Times with award-winning poet Alexandra Oliver. Join us to explore the ways poetry can sustain us in times of crisis and upheaval. This session will include an opportunity to do some writing of your own! If you'd like to preview some of the works Alexandra will be discussing, find the packet of poems to view and/or download at http://www.haalsa.org/lectures.htm

Tonight at 7:30pmEST: Join us for Alexandra Oliver's talk on "The Secret Art of Making Verse in Interesting Times." If you have not yet pre-registered for this Zoom event, use this link: https://zoom.us//regi/tJItd--rqTwsGtG7cSFmD3SM1hKaOljJ08Dv

Good news, HAALSA friends! There's still room available to register for this Saturday's talk by Alexandra Oliver, "Camera Eye, Radio Ear, Poet Heart: The Secret Art of Making Verse in Interesting Times." The talk begins at 7:30pmEST. Use this link to register: https://zoom.us//regi/tJItd--rqTwsGtG7cSFmD3SM1hKaOljJ08Dv ... and then head over to the HAALSA webpage to preview some of the poems + discussion before tomorrow night, with the downloadable poetry packet there: http://www.haalsa.org/lectures.htm

Next TUESDAY, Feb 9th join us for a special HAALSA + Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra about the prolific composer Antonio Vivaldi. Abigail Richardson-Schulte, Composer in Residence with the HPO, will provide intriguing stories about Vivaldi's life and music, and HPO Principal Second Violin Bethany Bergman will 'illustrate' with selections from Vivaldi's works.

Gosh, with all the wacky excitement and adventure going on during lockdown lately, we somehow forgot to let you know that Tyler Murchie's talk from last Saturday, "Frozen Archives of the North," is now available to view through our website. Apologies! To watch, to go: http://www.haalsa.org/lectures.htm Scroll down to "Past Lectures" and find Mr Murchie's entry. Click on "Watch the video." The video is housed in Zoom, so you'll be taken there, but no password or further sign-in is required.

A big thank you to Tyler Murchie for kicking off our 2021 lectures with dose of high-tech science last night! It was an information-packed lecture about how environmental DNA recovery is being refined with new tools at McMaster University's Ancient DNA lab, and how it's changing our ideas of the Yukon's past landscape. Among the surprises: horses, mammoths, willows and even daisies may have been more prevalent than we'd thought, and for far longer along the timeline than paleontological specimens suggest. And because the evidence is the size of fragments of DNA strands, we can find out a lot from even a tiny amount of sample (see picture).

Space still available! Register now! Tomorrow at 7:30 over Zoom, join us for Tyler Murchie’s talk, Frozen Archives of our North, to learn how sedimentary DNA molecules can help answer many lingering questions about ancient landscapes and their many fascinating inhabitants. To register, click: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cM85UyRXRY-JbOKPJlSAVQ

On Saturday, January 16th at 7:30 over Zoom, join us for Frozen Archives of our North. Tyler Murchie of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre will share how scientists are recovering ancient DNA from Yukon permafrost to give us a clearer picture of ancient landscapes and the creatures inhabiting them. (Permafrost terraces picture by USFWS, via Creative Commons)

A little more light on this sunny Thursday: our recording of Dr Kalai Saravanamuttu's lecture this past Saturday evening, "The Mystery, Beauty, and Science of Light" is now available on our website! It will remain there until the end of the month. To watch, go to http://www.haalsa.org/lectures.htm , then scroll down the Lectures page to the heading "Past (20202021)". Find the entry for Dr Saravanamuttu's lecture, then click on "Watch the Video". The zoom.us website will open and you can watch from there.

Many thanks to Dr Kalai Saravanamuttu for last night's lecture about light! (Dare we say it was... illuminating? ) From art and religion to optics and 3-D printing, light has a mysterious and intriguing appeal to humans. Dr Saravanamuttu led us to think about how light influences so much of our lives and technologies -- even our experience of the autumn leaves changing colour! Her lab's work includes, among other things, studying the changes in light that happen when cer...tain substances change its refractive indices over time (we learned what those are too!), and what implications that might have for technology. Never thought we'd see a tiny catapult made out of the channels left by light! HAALSA is happy to add that Dr Saravanamuttu allowed the lecture to be recorded - watch this space for the link in the next few days. (Saravanamuttu Group laboratory pic from McMaster University)

TONIGHT at 7:30pm (EST)! Dr Kalai Saravanamuttu lectures on The Mystery, Beauty, and Science of Light. Learn how light colours our world, inspires exquisite art and poetry, fuels plants and thereby life, powers technologies, and continues to astonish and delight investigators. There may still be spaces available! Registration is required, so click https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9ihtfOh0TT-Z2_Y_qO8HXA

TOMORROW NIGHT, illuminate your world with our November lecture! As of 10:30 this morning, there were still Zoom log-in spaces left, so why not join us? Saturday, November 7th at 7:30pm(EST) over Zoom, Dr Kalai Saravanamuttu will lecture on The Mystery, Beauty, and Science of Light. Her research team in the Department of Engineering Physics at McMaster University investigates all the astonishing and delighting behaviours of light, and how humans use it not only to sustain l...ife but to create new technologies. Register soon at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9ihtfOh0TT-Z2_Y_qO8HXA (Image by _tarale_ via Creative Commons)