...you probably should send Gord Downie a thank-you note! Might be time to update the lyrics though - "Outdoor patio and free WiFi/(Still) can't afford the luxury" (Actually, it's surprisingly affordable considering the view and some of the amenities offered.)
I asked at the check-in if they had many people mention the Tragically Hip song when they checked in (too embarrassed to admit that's exactly why I chose this motel) and the clerk said, "Not as much as there used to be when the song first came out but it still happens occasionally." He went on to say he was on desk when the Hip checked in. Their tour bus had broken down in the mountains and he didn't like the looks of them - a typical long-haired rock band, he thought they'd trash the place! He then asked if they were still making music. Man, if Canada's biggest band made your motel famous, you'd think you might follow their career a bit. I mean, your motel does have free wireless!
One of the big hub-bubs of the last week or so was around the fact that American right-wing commentator, Ann Coulter, had one of her speeches in Canada shut down by protesters. The one that was shut down was at the University of Ottawa while others at locations including my alma mater, the University of Western Ontario and my former employer, the University of Calgary (where I spent exactly one week as a page before being hired by the Writers Guild of Alberta!) went on as planned.
After the speech in Ottawa was shut down due to "safety concerns", I was a bit saddened to see the crowing on Facebook and other social media sites by people who should know better (ie. librarians) about how proud this made them.
See, I have two big insights into this whole "controversy" that I'd like to share - one comes because I worked in publishing and one comes because I was a huge fan of professional wrestling as a kid.
The first observation from the publishing angle is this - the worst thing you can do is draw attention to something you don't agree with as it only gets it more attention/more sales/more money/more notoriety. People on the left and right both seem to miss this anything they try to censor something/someone - whether it's someone like Philip Pullman (great title, eh?) from the right or someone like, well, like Ann Coulter from the left. Often the best thing to do with a book or a person you don't agree with is to ignore it/them (especially one that is so blatantly a media whore like Coulter).
Which leads to my second point. Ann Coulter is the modern equivalent of the Iron Sheik (and I'm not hte only one who noticed the similarity.) Now, for those unfamiliar with the 1980's wrestling scene, the Iron Sheik was one of the leading bad guys who had a gimmick of being an evil Iranian doing battle with the super hero American champ, Hulk Hogan. He got "heat" (or crowd response) by saying and acting in the most inflammatory fashion possible - using the American flag as a prop, belittling his enemies and generally, just carrying on like an ass. (Sound familiar?)
So yeah, if Ann Coulter happened to come to the University of Regina, I wouldn't have been there protesting - I'd have been there with a box of popcorn and a big foam finger (guess which one?) enjoying the show for what it is - a staged exhibition intended to maximize the heat for a performer who is very skilled at what they do.
Oh, and this is a bit of a tangent which has nothing to do with Ann Coulter but I recently learned that Iron Sheik has had a late life career resurgence due to appearances on Howard Stern and YouTube where he plays (?) an amped up, crack-head version of his former character - rambling drunkenly while threatening to humble people by anally raping them! Here's a clip of the Sheik in action which is somewhat NSFW (but compared to some others on YouTube, relatively tame):
And here's a photo of Ann Coulter's face that I photoshopped onto the Iron Sheik's body. (Sorry it's not my best work in this vein but I had to try it.)
Anyhow, for today's Music Monday, I thought I'd re-visit one of the most pleasant surprises from the Opening Ceremonies two weeks ago - a slam poet captures Canada...
Rumours were swirling about the top secret torch bearer who would light the Olympic Cauldron during the Opening Ceremonies last Friday. The best suggestion I heard was that they were going to use current video editing techniques or another recently unveiled technology such as a hologram to have Terry Fox "run" into the stadium, symbolically ending the cross-Canada run he started almost thirty years ago.
In fact, if I'm being completely honest (and if you'll indulge a slight tangent), I think I'd vote Terry Fox over Tommy Douglas as Canada's Greatest Canadian. Because no matter how much I admire Tommy Douglas or agree with his politics, the difference maker is that Tommy Douglas was an elected politician doing what he felt was right and, as is inevitable in the political arena, there was opposition to him, both at the time and still today. Terry Fox was a young everyman without an agenda (other than defeating cancer obviously) who was like some sort of tragic Greek hero with the epic journey he took on for himself.
"Many years after I saw him run a couple of consecutive marathons -
his 136th and 137th or something like it - I ran one myself. I trained
for it for six months, on two legs, and spent the day after on my back.
When Terry finished a marathon, he had something to eat, maybe endured
an event of glad-handing (in order to raise more money) in some
godforsaken town, grabbed a few hours sleep, and then got up and did it
again."
Not sure if you heard but apparently the Wet & Rainy Olympics are in Canada this year and the opening ceremonies are tonight.
The Olympics are once again a lightning rod of controversy and having them on our own doorstep has perhaps brought this home in a way that doesn't happen when they're in Italy or Japan or even next door in the US.
Even Vancouver's libraries aren't immune, a controversy having stirred around a directive from VPL's marketing department about which sponsors to use during the period when the Winter Games are happening and which to avoid as well as asking staff to put pieces of tape over non-sponsor logos on things like electronic equipment. (I wonder if they were asked to do the same as what happened at the last Olympics when black tape was apparently placed over the logo of the urinal maker in the bathrooms at Olympic venues since Moens or Delta or whoever weren't the official plumbing sponsor of the Olympics!) [Edit: or worse]
I'm mixed in my feelings towards the Olympics. I like the idea of what they're supposed to represent - the pinnacle of athletic achievement taking place on a global stage for international competition within international cooperation. But I'm not naive enough to dismiss the rampant commercialism and corporatization of the Games which has long replaced the ideals of the games as the most important thing. That's not even mentioning the massive expenses associated with hosting the Games and long-term debts that are always incurred (I think Calgary 1988 was the only modern Olympic Games - summer or winter - that ended up being debt-free at the end of it.)
I've got lots more thoughts but I won't get into them there. I will say that I also have mixed thoughts about nationalism and patriotism. But one of the places where I don't is in regards to the Olympic hockey tournament. So Go Canada Go and here's a little clip to get your blood stirring, not least because whoever picked the song chose a great under-the-radar Canadian songwriter named Mike Plume...(ffwd to 2:57)
"Cheques were issued based on family size and income. That is, the
minimum cheque would presume the recipient had no other source of
income. From there, it was scaled back in proportion to the household's
earnings, but it did not claw back everything the family earned above
the minimum needed to keep body and soul together.
In that way, it differed from standard welfare, or social
assistance. And for that reason, it's fondly remembered in the town
that tried it, because it rewarded initiative and standing on your own
two feet, qualities highly regarded in rural Manitoba, then and now.
I hate that frequently, those revolutionary ideas never survive, even when they have a successful trial.
"Teenagers stayed in school longer because they didn't have to get
jobs to support their families. People could afford medical and dental
care. Stress was down because people didn't have to worry about
providing for their families.
As Zaplitny says, these people weren't deadbeats.
They were no different that the thousands of people in this province
who work and still live at or below the poverty line. They use food
banks to supplement what they buy or go hungry so their children can
eat.
Mincome did more than top up the income of the poor. It gave them dignity.
