I'll briefly comment on senate appointments and then move along. I have heard and read people criticizing Stephen Harper's appointments of senators as if it's another way to manipulate the government. The patronage appointments of the senate are nothing new and have been happening since the beginning of the senate. Whether you like it or not, Stephen Harper does have the right to appoint senators, something he has not done while in office, regardless of there being more important issues to deal with. Harper is also trying to change the senate to be an elected one, which is truly a great improvement from the status quo in existence. Am I in favour of this plan? Actually, no. I'd prefer to see the red chamber abolished, unless there were to be some sort of massive constitutional shakeup in how the country is run. Right now, the senate is irrelevant. I suggest we do away with it, leave things up to parliament and save some cash. It's a valuable spending cut. Let's do it when we get rid of the monarchy and let the GG's house be converted into condos (or a homeless shelter, or a bingo hall as Preston Manning wanted to do to Stornoway, until he actually got a chance to live there and decided it wasn't so bad after all.)
I commented more than I thought I would. Sorry.
I just wanted to wish any readers out there, if there are any, a happy new year. I'll be candid and say 2008 was less than stellar for me and a lot of people. But 2009 is a new year. Don't be resigned to accepting next year as a bad year because the papers say so. For those of you who had a good 2008, I hope your success continues.
For me, this week has been great. A friend from Vancouver Island is visiting and we are having wonderful times. Tomorrow I shall ring in the new year at a party put together by my good friend Clara Blackwood (who is not from Vancouver Island).
Good luck to all.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Friday, December 19, 2008
Poetry about Las Vegas and (unfortunately) my favourite basketball team
Las Vegas had a blizzard yesterday.
One local joked hell had finally frozen over.
They say with snow powdering its black glass pyramid,
the Luxor looked like an ash mountain.
Snow weighed down on all the palms like a curse from Jesus.
I change channels
where thunder in Oklahoma can look good
when dinosaurs from Canada play against it.
The Thunder from Oklahoma
is the worst the world's ever seen, they say.
Yet tonight it brings a second Cretaceous destruction.
Maybe the dinosaurs will go home and win the lottery again
and not blow their winnings this time.
One local joked hell had finally frozen over.
They say with snow powdering its black glass pyramid,
the Luxor looked like an ash mountain.
Snow weighed down on all the palms like a curse from Jesus.
I change channels
where thunder in Oklahoma can look good
when dinosaurs from Canada play against it.
The Thunder from Oklahoma
is the worst the world's ever seen, they say.
Yet tonight it brings a second Cretaceous destruction.
Maybe the dinosaurs will go home and win the lottery again
and not blow their winnings this time.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Marnie Stern, I'm Blown Away
I rarely, if ever at all, write about music on this blog. I often write about arts and literature, but not music. However, I'm a huge music fan.
However, over the last couple of years I've been listening to older music. I've been listening to and discovering older jazz music, classic rock records and classic metal records. The "mainstream" indie scene got boring for me. The stuff that was being presented as new and groundbreaking by the pretentious music experts wasn't that new and exciting. At the beginning of the decade I was excited by ambient or classical influenced bands like Sigur Ros, Mum and Apocalyptica, as well as a few garage-rock sounding bands like The White Stripes, Death From Above, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And then, meh.
Late this year an album was released entitled, a really long title is coming, This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That. It is the second album by Marnie Stern.
In the early 90s when grunge came along, a lot changed in rock, much of it for the better. However, one could argue something was missing, with a few exceptions as always, with the "alternative" scene and the "indie" scene. That thing was musicianship. Lyrics and catchy tunes displaced musicianship, mainly the long-winding guitar solo.
Stern's album displays her virtuoso guitar playing and tapping technique in a way never displayed by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen or any of the other 80s shredders. She manages to have poppy melodies included in the difficult to play rhythms, with songs like Shea Stadium and Transformer, as well as rockier songs like The Crippled Jazzer. No songs are longer than 4:20 (I'm guessing a coincidence). She doesn't get into the solo.
Years ago, I was one of the kids who walked around the halls in school either carrying a guitar or a guitar magazine. Guitar magazines that had a couple of free song tabs in them were quite popular. I remember there was one copy of Guitar World discussing women guitarists and why there were so few of them. It also discussed how hard it was for women to break into the testosterone-dominating hard rock scene in the 80s. How ironic would it be if a solo-performing female is the next "guitar hero" (no pun intended) in 2008, the one to seriously bring the guitar back to rock?
However, over the last couple of years I've been listening to older music. I've been listening to and discovering older jazz music, classic rock records and classic metal records. The "mainstream" indie scene got boring for me. The stuff that was being presented as new and groundbreaking by the pretentious music experts wasn't that new and exciting. At the beginning of the decade I was excited by ambient or classical influenced bands like Sigur Ros, Mum and Apocalyptica, as well as a few garage-rock sounding bands like The White Stripes, Death From Above, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. And then, meh.
Late this year an album was released entitled, a really long title is coming, This Is It And I Am It And You Are It And So Is That And He Is It And She Is It And It Is It And That Is That. It is the second album by Marnie Stern.
In the early 90s when grunge came along, a lot changed in rock, much of it for the better. However, one could argue something was missing, with a few exceptions as always, with the "alternative" scene and the "indie" scene. That thing was musicianship. Lyrics and catchy tunes displaced musicianship, mainly the long-winding guitar solo.
Stern's album displays her virtuoso guitar playing and tapping technique in a way never displayed by the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen or any of the other 80s shredders. She manages to have poppy melodies included in the difficult to play rhythms, with songs like Shea Stadium and Transformer, as well as rockier songs like The Crippled Jazzer. No songs are longer than 4:20 (I'm guessing a coincidence). She doesn't get into the solo.
Years ago, I was one of the kids who walked around the halls in school either carrying a guitar or a guitar magazine. Guitar magazines that had a couple of free song tabs in them were quite popular. I remember there was one copy of Guitar World discussing women guitarists and why there were so few of them. It also discussed how hard it was for women to break into the testosterone-dominating hard rock scene in the 80s. How ironic would it be if a solo-performing female is the next "guitar hero" (no pun intended) in 2008, the one to seriously bring the guitar back to rock?
Monday, December 8, 2008
Coalition Governments Are a Part of Democracy
We'll find out in the next several months if we'll see the first coalition government in Canada in around 90 years.
But isn't it funny how many of those complaining about the unfairness of a Liberal government majority with less than 50 per cent of the vote are now crying the coalition is a threat to democracy? That being said, if there were an NDP led minority about to be toppled by a Harper-led coalition, I'd love to see if Now Magazine issues a front-page story as to why the coalition is suddenly a threat to democracy. Whether or not it was right to prorogue parliament is all based on what part of the political spectrum you are on.
As one who believes in abolishing the monarchy, I have a serious problem with an unelected person, Michaelle Jean, deciding who should be Prime Minister. This is the issue more people should be talking about. People shouldn't have to blindly accept they are subjects of another country's queen.
If people think the coalition government is a threat to democracy, remember you are not in America. Much like the rest of the western world (not named America) we have a parliamentary democracy. In European countries, especially ones like Italy and Austria with proportional representation, coalitions are a norm. Coalition governments are a reality in a parliamentary system, though we've rarely seen them here.
And if you support proportional representation and hate the idea of a coalition, it's time to rethink your stance
But isn't it funny how many of those complaining about the unfairness of a Liberal government majority with less than 50 per cent of the vote are now crying the coalition is a threat to democracy? That being said, if there were an NDP led minority about to be toppled by a Harper-led coalition, I'd love to see if Now Magazine issues a front-page story as to why the coalition is suddenly a threat to democracy. Whether or not it was right to prorogue parliament is all based on what part of the political spectrum you are on.
As one who believes in abolishing the monarchy, I have a serious problem with an unelected person, Michaelle Jean, deciding who should be Prime Minister. This is the issue more people should be talking about. People shouldn't have to blindly accept they are subjects of another country's queen.
If people think the coalition government is a threat to democracy, remember you are not in America. Much like the rest of the western world (not named America) we have a parliamentary democracy. In European countries, especially ones like Italy and Austria with proportional representation, coalitions are a norm. Coalition governments are a reality in a parliamentary system, though we've rarely seen them here.
And if you support proportional representation and hate the idea of a coalition, it's time to rethink your stance
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
My take on the Governor General Awards poetry controversy
A lot has been made about Jacob Scheier winning the Governor General's Literary Award for best Canadian poetry book of 2008 with More to Keep Us Warm.
I do have issues with Di Brandt being a judge in a situation where she'd been of assistance to Scheier's fabulous book. It doesn't matter how objective Brandt is. I have no idea as to the influence she had on the jury. I can give her the benefit of the doubt, but in this situation, the doubt is there. This is a conflict of interest. We'll never know, as outsiders of the jury, what influence is there.
First of all, this is Canada, a relatively small country. It is very rare an award-eligible writer would have absolutely no connection with a very good writer who's seen as an eligible judge. We're talking about poetry, a small literary genre in a small country. Everybody in that scene eventually knows everybody.
I feel badly for Mr. Scheier. I feel people can make the arguments other poets were deserving, but shouldn't make the argument Scheier's More to Keep Us Warm was not deserving. (I'll qualify this and say I liked Sachiko Murakami's The Invisibility Exhibit the most.) It is a deserving book. I just wonder if people will dismiss him as an illegitimate winner. I feel bad as he is a first-time winner with his first book and this was supposed to be one of the greatest moments in his life, and it's racked by controversy. One of two things will happen. The expectations will be so much for his next book and he'll get the sophomore jinx or he, with his so-called "illegitimate victory," will be motivated to blow all away with his next book, proving the controversy a blessing in disguise. I'm hoping for the latter as he does not deserve the controversy surrounding this, for he is a fantastic writer.
I do have issues with Di Brandt being a judge in a situation where she'd been of assistance to Scheier's fabulous book. It doesn't matter how objective Brandt is. I have no idea as to the influence she had on the jury. I can give her the benefit of the doubt, but in this situation, the doubt is there. This is a conflict of interest. We'll never know, as outsiders of the jury, what influence is there.
First of all, this is Canada, a relatively small country. It is very rare an award-eligible writer would have absolutely no connection with a very good writer who's seen as an eligible judge. We're talking about poetry, a small literary genre in a small country. Everybody in that scene eventually knows everybody.
I feel badly for Mr. Scheier. I feel people can make the arguments other poets were deserving, but shouldn't make the argument Scheier's More to Keep Us Warm was not deserving. (I'll qualify this and say I liked Sachiko Murakami's The Invisibility Exhibit the most.) It is a deserving book. I just wonder if people will dismiss him as an illegitimate winner. I feel bad as he is a first-time winner with his first book and this was supposed to be one of the greatest moments in his life, and it's racked by controversy. One of two things will happen. The expectations will be so much for his next book and he'll get the sophomore jinx or he, with his so-called "illegitimate victory," will be motivated to blow all away with his next book, proving the controversy a blessing in disguise. I'm hoping for the latter as he does not deserve the controversy surrounding this, for he is a fantastic writer.
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