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3月31日 'The Barbarian Invasions'Why were we so dumb? Not at all. Oh, a new theory! Athens, BC: Euripides premieres his Electra. Two rivals attend, Sophocles and Aristophanes. And two friends, Socrates and Plato. Intelligence was there. Firenze, Palazzo Vecchio, on facing walls, two painters: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. An apprentice: Rafaello. A manager: Niccolo Machiavelli. Philadelphia, USA,- Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Adams, Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Hamilton, and Madison. No other country has been so blessed. I was born in Chicoutimi, Canada. It's a miracle you're not dumber. Everyone was dumb, in Athens and Chicoutimi. In Italy you'd have supported the Red Brigades. Now it's Berlusconi. You see, you're not that dumb. Intelligence has disappeared, and it can take eons to come back.
Its hard to think of any two movies with better dialogue than The Decline of the American Empire, and its sequel, The Barbarian Invasions. This snippet comes from the latter. It should be watched, like all foreign language films, not dubbed but subtitled. There's a sad irony in me saying this that some might pick up on. But they're both really good, if you can find them. 3月30日 Taking that Ride to NowhereThere isn't really isn't any point in trying to explain or justify the mess this blog will likely be. Its a musing about Canadiana, generational differences, and political sensibilities, brought on by topics discussed here and elsewhere.
From the age of six to sixteen, I lived in the eighties. These are ten very impressionable years of one's life. Those of you who missed the 'me' decade; consider yourselves blessed. You missed very little that was worthwhile. It was a decade of conservative politics, bad music, and the worship of mammon.
Knowing how much one generation loves to hear another talk about itself, I'm sure you're very curious about how my ideas and opinions were formed, and what it was like growing up in Canada at the time. Stop rolling your eyes and get comfortable.
As a kid, it seemed to me that Canada was 'little America' with no real identity of its own. We tried to emulate everything American, with our own 'Canadian pop culture' and did a very lame job of it. Canadian entertainment seemed second-rate. American media - which has always bombarded this country, seemed vastly superior. Every Saturday I'd hope the wind would blow from the south so we could pick up reception of the cartoons from the American networks. As far as music was concerned, we had Brian Adams, Corey Hart and Luba. The operative word here is 'lame'. Everything Canadiana seemed a boring and second-rate attempt to copy American trends.
Looking back now, most everything that this decade spawned seems like the low end of culture to me, with the odd rare exeption. I'm not sure if I was projecting my own self-deprecation as a youth onto my own country. It might be part of the explanation. I mean, England gave us Rick Ashley and Samantha Fox. America gave us Debbie Gibson and Tiffany. The whole decade blew cultural chunks. What on earth was I idealizing American culture for? Had Canada really existed in the shadows of America the way I'd perceived? This is where subjectivity and objectivity collide, and I have little idea where they actually meet.
It is interesting that around the time I actually started liking who I was (the nineties) the whole world got a lot more interesting and my attitude towards Canada completely changed. Perhaps it was the change of Government, or perhaps it was that good music was suddenly in the mainstream and accessable. I can't pinpoint when this change happened exactly, but I distinctly remember being upset that the Tragically Hip were playing SNL. It was Canadian music, full of Canadian references, and I didn't want America to 'get' it; it was a part of our culture. I needn't have worried I suppose. But it was the principle of the whole thing.
Where am I going with this? Nowhere really; perhaps I really am getting old. But as popular culture and government is starting to more and more like it did in my youth, a decade that is repressed in my mind has come back to haunt me. I'm not anti-Canadian like I once was; I'm not anti-American like I once was. I'm more the pro-world sort now. But the world just doesn't seem as interesting as it once was. It seems a more sinister place than I can ever remember it being. 3月29日 'Feet Fall On The Road'Feet fall on the road
Bound to motion Though chains be of gold
They are chains all the same Traveler on the bridge Awakens to find It's not the river that flows But the bridge that moves o'er In the hand of the cloud Liquid as time The heron's wings well Know the grace of space Bruce Bockburn, 'Sunwheel Dance' 3月28日 Spitzer Space Telescope
http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/spitzer/ http://sscws1.ipac.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2004-10a
Adrian mentioned this to me. He has an interesting site, full of great plans and ideas. It reminds me of when I was younger and more ambitious. http://spaces.msn.com/Adrius666/
The Spitzer images have been taken by an infrared telescope, meaning they are false-colour images; the light observed being outside the visible spectrum.
http://sscws1.ipac.caltech.edu/Imagegallery/image.php?image_name=ssc2004-19a 3月27日 SickoI recently heard a comment somewhere that went something like this;
'The biggest crisis facing America won't be terrorism from outside its borders, but the issue of American health care.'
I don't know; maybe I just dreamed it. I can't keep track of what's real and what I dreamed anymore. Come to think of it, I've always had a problem with this; lucid dreaming has nothing on me. But while searching for something about this, I came across some interesting information. Micheal Moore's next documentary, tentatively entitled 'Sicko', has a target, and its the American healthcare system. I can already see the fur flying, but painting this as an ugly picture should be effortless. I would also think it should meet less resistance from the public than attacking the president and a concocted war. But then you never know how some people might react simply out of principle. I'm hoping it shakes things up in the only industrialized country without universal health care.
I also read his message to Canadians prior to the election. When I heard about it, I thought it was a bad idea for him to comment. I like the guy; I think he has a good heart. But if you ever google 'Micheal Moore', you'll notice many do not; free speech doesn't extend to Oscar speeches. Is he 'fair and balanced'? Neither side is, so no one should pretend the right spins their story with greater integrity. What makes Moore somewhat unique is that he is an actual voice heard from the actual left; just left of centre, but still a very rare thing down there.
Anyway, I have to quote a snippet.
'These are no ordinary times, and as you go to the polls on Monday, you do so while a man running the nation to the south of you is hoping you can lend him a hand by picking Stephen Harper because he's a man who shares his world view. Do you want to help George Bush by turning Canada into his latest conquest? Is that how you want millions of us down here to see you from now on? The next notch in the cowboy belt? C'mon, where's your Canadian pride? I mean, if you're going to reduce Canada to a cheap download of Bush & Co., then at least don't surrender so easily. Can't you wait until he threatens to bomb Regina? Make him work for it, for Pete's sake.'
Make sure you pick up on the Regina reference. Not Calgary, not Toronto, but Regina. For the sake of humour and obscurity, but we're not fussy. Unfortunately, Micheal Moore's plea wasn't enough to break the bizarre spell of insanity. 3月26日 'The Sire Of Sorrow (Job's Sad Song)' Let me speak, let me spit out my bitterness--
Born of grief and nights without sleep and festering flesh Do you have eyes? Can you see like mankind sees? Why have you soured and curdled me? Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you? That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true? Once I was blessed; I was awaited like the rain Like eyes for the blind, like feet for the lame Kings heard my words, and they sought out my company But now the janitors of Shadowland flick their brooms at me Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you? that you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true? (Antagonists: Man is the sire of sorrow) I've lost all taste for life I'm all complaints Tell me why do you starve the faithful? Why do you crucify the saints? And you let the wicked prosper You let their children frisk like deer And my loves are dead or dying, or they don't come near (Antagonists: We don't despise your chastening God is correcting you) Oh and look who comes to counsel my deep distress Oh, these pompous physicians What carelessness! (Antagonists: Oh all this ranting all this wind. Filling our ears with trash) Breathtaking ignorance adding insult to injury! They come blaming and shaming (Antagonists: Evil doer) And shattering me (Antagonists: This vain man wishes to seem wise. A man born of asses) Oh you tireless watcher! What have I done to you? That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true? (Antagonists: We don't despise your chastening) Already on a bed of sighs and screams, And still you torture me with visions You give me terrifying dreams! Better I was carried from the womb straight to the grave. I see the diggers waiting, they're leaning on their spades. (Antagonists: Man is the sire of sorrow. Sure as the sparks ascend) Where is hope while you're wondering what went wrong? Why give me light and then this dark without a dawn? (Antagonists: Evil is sweet in your mouth. Hiding under your tongue) Show your face! (Antagonists: What a long fall from grace) Help me understand! What is the reason for your heavy hand? (Antagonists: You're stumbling in shadows. You have no name now) Was it the sins of my youth? What have I done to you? That you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true? (Antagonists: Oh your guilt must weigh so greatly) Everything I dread and everything I fear come true (Antagonists: Man is the sire of sorrow) Oh you make everything I dread and everything I fear come true Joni Mitchell, 'Turbulent Indigo' 3月24日 'Make Poverty History'It would be nice to think something like this might actually accomplish its goal. Its very simple, straightforward, and worth a shot I figure. Harpur and the Conservatives actually pushed for increased foreign aid when they weren't in power. This can be the litmus test for hypocrisy.
3月23日 The Father of MetaphorWe have today to learn to get back into accord with the wisdom of nature and realize again our brotherhood with the animals and with the water and the sea. To say that divinity informs the world and all things is condemned as pantheism. But pantheism is a misleading word. It suggests that a personal god is supposed to inhabit the world, but that is not the idea at all. The idea is trans-theological. It is of an indefinable, inconceivable mystery, thought of as a power, that is the source and end and supporting ground of all life and being.
Joseph Campbell 3月21日 'Chinaphobia'"The problem with the Chinese is that they don't know that the Canadian oil is ours...And neither do the Canadians."
Irving Mintzer
The New Economic World Order
3月18日 Hubble GalleryThis was my favorite object from my favorite constellation as a kid. This is a collection of gorgeous images. If they don't make you feel a tinge of pantheism, nothing will. 3月17日 Religious Maps of America
http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/geo/courses/geo200/religion.html (There are a series of maps breaking down distributions of various religions in America.) I looked for a Canadian equivalent, but could not find one. The best I could find was a breakdown from Statistics Canada. http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo30a.htm http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/products/analytic/companion/rel/contents.cfm 3月16日 Israel and Human RightsA great lecture.
Found here.
'The facts are that since its inception, Israel has believed that as a Jewish state, with a mandate from imperials and divine powers it has the right to do what it wishes, and the Arabs, and especially the Palestinians, be damned. To this day, no Israeli leader, no Isreali mainstream intellectual, with a few brave expections...no Isreali political leader has publically acknowledged Israel's responsibility for dispossessing and oppressing the Palestinian people. And this from a people that has quite rightly insisted that the entire world should remember its history of percecution and suffering. How anomalous that instead of universalizing the whole tragic history of anti-Semitism, by making certain that no other group should suffer the indignity of being treated inferior on the basis of race and religion, Zionism has proceeded most illiberally, arrogating to itself the monopoly of victomization, even as it persues policies of special privilege, and choosiness for its people, in what in effect is a country that is multi-religious, and multi-ethnic.'
'I believe now, that we as Palestinians are approaching the darkest period in our tragic history. Our natural allies, the Arab states, are ruled by an unhealthy, aging, and deeply isolated group of oligarchies, minority regimes, and military dictatorships, each of which, without acception, is interested in the survival of his rule...production in the fields of agriculture, industry and export is dramatically lower each year. And even in the oil states, investment in the future has been far oustripped by profligacy, and an extraordinary wasteful policy of mostly useless arms purchases encouraged by Britain, the United States, Russia, France, and China. Over sixty percent of the world's arms sales are accounted for by Arab states, who cannot use most of them. Unable to coordinate between themselves these regimes are dependant on the United States, which in its infinite indifference presses so-called moderation on them, while encouraging Israel's worst excesses...' Edward Said
3月15日 'The Crumbling Empire'Latin America and Asia are Breaking Free of Washington's GripBy NOAM CHOMSKY The prospect that Europe and Asia might move towards greater independence has troubled US planners since the second world war. The concerns have only risen as the "tripolar order"--Europe, North America and Asia--has continued to evolve...[read on; its really good I swear]... 3月14日 Making Equality TabooLet's try a little exercise. Before we start, I should make it clear that I have no problems with the concept of governments redressing for past discriminations. Both groups in question have had them in spades. And I believe in the equality of all humanity. Considering the sensitivity of the subject matter, I'd just like to make that clear off the top.
I'm going to give you two quotes with similar substance and themes. They don't line up perfectly perhaps, but I think the similarities make the comparison warranted. The main theme in both cases is the accusation and documentation of corruption and the lining of pockets. Your task, if you're the brave sort, or just bored, is to guess which one has caused very little offense, and which one caused an uproar. Both quotations come from members of the particular minority drawing the criticism, and it seems both are well documented.
'Problems Persist With Indian Gaming and First Nations Fund says Saskatchewan Auditor. Fred Wendel released Volume 2 of his 2002 Fall Report that describes the results of audits of nearly 140 Government agencies. The Report describes how progress by Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority SIGA to properly manage public money has been slow. SIGA has no clear plan to improve its spending practices...The Trustees of the Fund continue to make payments beyond their authority and without ensuring that recipients spend the money according to the law.' http://www.turtleisland.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?p=478&sid=377a0c5ffbd01b5046334212bb55feb9 'The Holocaust Industry, is as I conceive in the book, is institutions, organisations and individuals who have put to use Jewish suffering for political and financial gain...These organisations frankly, bring to mind an insight of my late mother, that it is no accident that Jews invented the word "chutzpah". They steal, and I do use the word with intent, 95% of the monies earmarked for victims of Nazi persecution, and then throw you a few crumbs while telling you to be grateful. It is very hard to sink much lower than to turn the colossal suffering of the Jewish people during World War Two into an extortion racket.' http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein1.html 3月13日 The Story of Mouseland: A Political AllegoryMouselandAs told by Tommy Douglas in 1944
'It's the story of a place called Mouseland. Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived and played, were born and died. And they lived much the same as you and I do. They even had a Parliament. And every four years they had an election. Used to walk to the polls and cast their ballots. Some of them even got a ride to the polls. And got a ride for the next four years afterwards too. Just like you and me. And every time on election day all the little mice used to go to the ballot box and they used to elect a government. A government made up of big, fat, black cats. Now if you think it strange that mice should elect a government made up of cats, you just look at the history of Canada for last 90 years and maybe you'll see that they weren't any stupider than we are. Now I'm not saying anything against the cats. They were nice fellows. They conducted their government with dignity. They passed good laws--that is, laws that were good for cats. But the laws that were good for cats weren't very good for mice. One of the laws said that mouseholes had to be big enough so a cat could get his paw in. Another law said that mice could only travel at certain speeds--so that a cat could get his breakfast without too much effort. All the laws were good laws. For cats. But, oh, they were hard on the mice. And life was getting harder and harder. And when the mice couldn't put up with it any more, they decided something had to be done about it. So they went en masse to the polls. They voted the black cats out. They put in the white cats. Now the white cats had put up a terrific campaign. They said: "All that Mouseland needs is more vision." They said:"The trouble with Mouseland is those round mouseholes we got. If you put us in we'll establish square mouseholes." And they did. And the square mouseholes were twice as big as the round mouseholes, and now the cat could get both his paws in. And life was tougher than ever. And when they couldn't take that anymore, they voted the white cats out and put the black ones in again. Then they went back to the white cats. Then to the black cats. They even tried half black cats and half white cats. And they called that coalition. They even got one government made up of cats with spots on them: they were cats that tried to make a noise like a mouse but ate like a cat. You see, my friends, the trouble wasn't with the colour of the cat. The trouble was that they were cats. And because they were cats, they naturally looked after cats instead of mice. Presently there came along one little mouse who had an idea. My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea. And he said to the other mice, "Look fellows, why do we keep on electing a government made up of cats? Why don't we elect a government made up of mice?" "Oh," they said, "he's a Bolshevik. Lock him up!" So they put him in jail. But I want to remind you: that you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can't lock up an idea.'
3月11日 What He Said“If there is one bin Laden now, there will be one hundred bin Ladens afterwards.”
Hosni Mubarak
(The Egyptian president speaking on America's intent to invade Iraq prior to the invasion.) |
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