Wednesday, March 01, 2006

"The bizarre tale of how sober, conservative Toronto of the 60s allowed the hippie high-rise of Rochdale College into its midst."

"One thing's for certain: there'll be plenty of people who'll tell us we got it wrong."

So says Bob Nasmith, in this bit from The Toronto Star, regarding The Dream Tower. Life in Rochdale College as performance art 35 years after the fact? I have my doubts, but I'm happy to see any sort of Rochdale spin-off still in play, just because that really was such a strange and emblematic chapter of Trudeau-era Canadian history.

In the meatime, newcomers to Rochdale are advised to seek out Ron Mann's doc by the same title. My own modest (and properly confused) metaphoric summary: if you run Haight Street through Woodstock and Altamont, it will stretch north and end in a cul-de-sac at Rochdale.

3 comments:

DarkoV said...

...sounds like a missed opportunity for Canada's version of Animal House will finally come to pass. Who's going to be U of T's version of Blutarksy? Any Liberals that are now ex-government officials?

DarkoV said...

In the Bob Nasmith article you linked to, he mentioned that the Downchild Blues Band started here. Wow! I remember catching them once in a bea up brasserie in Hull, over the river from a friend I was visiting in Ottawa ages ago. A very sloppy but enjoyable show. From their website, it seems they are still breathing and ticking. Amazing.

You must have a WOrd Verification program that senses the age of your commenter. The confirming passwrod was "gszsr". That's pronounced "geezer", right?

Whisky Prajer said...

"Geezer" - I like that! Among the Rochdale "graduates" is also poet Dennis Lee, which is a bit of jaw-dropper. I recall his "Alligator Pie" being recited with some regularity by Mr. Dress-up and crew - this in the mid-70s, when the heat could still be felt on the welded-shut doors of Rochdale. Try to imagine Fred Rogers reciting one of Alan Ginsberg's tamer bits, and you'll get a picture of what I'm talking about.