Archive for the 'culture' Category

Happy Canada Day, eh

Published July 1, 2008 in Canada and culture. 7 Comments

There’s nothing like a holiday to kick off the summer.

There’s beer, barbeques and fireworks, if the weather permits. People know how to do Canada Day when they’re in their own backyard, but when it comes to public celebrations, Canada Day always seems a little awkward to me.*

The trouble is that Canadians aren’t flag-wavers by nature. Our patriotism is more understated than that of our neighbours to the south. Americans celebrate July 4th with gusto, stars and stripes. Canadians tend to be a little embarrassed by the fanfare.

But come Canada Day, they drag out the Maple Leaf flag and try to do the flag-waving patriotism because, well, what else are you supposed to do?

It’s always struck me as a paradox: On one hand, here is a country that is desperate to distinguish itself from its neighbour. But when it celebrates itself, it adopts the very same public shows of celebration as the neighbour it wants to distinguish itself from.

At least at an official level.

You see this with backpackers as well. Canadians will wear a Canadian flag to say they are not American. Yet what is more American than wearing your flag?

Put a Canadian in a hockey rink and that Canadian will know how to be Canadian. But give that Canadian a flag on Canada Day and tell them to wave it, and they will. But it won’t come naturally.

But in our own backyards today, we will know what to do: eat, drink and be merry.

* I observed this Canada Day phenomenon working as an events organizer. You’d give them the government-issue free flags and they’d wave them because that’s what you’re supposed to do, but there was never a lot of conviction. It’s not because Canadians aren’t proud; it’s just that flag-waving isn’t their way of showing it.

RIP Humphrey Lyttelton

Published June 18, 2008 in Uncategorized and culture. 6 Comments

I’m not normally one to make a hero out of someone, but if I ever had a hero, this guy would be it.

He died 25 April at 86. And somehow I missed his passing. I must have been busy that week and didn’t tune into BBC Radio 4 as I normally do. But when I clicked on this morning and noticed the tribute to Humphrey Lyttelton, my heart sank. A tribute to a man of his age could only me one thing.

Here is his obit.

Simply put, “The Humph” was a modern-day Renaissance Man. He was a jazz trumpeter, a broadcaster, journalist, Radiohead collaborator, a ranconteur, ornithologist, cartoonist, calligrapher, a wit and a very charming English gentleman. And he was an exceptional talent in each of these realms, although music was his first love.

Here is the link to the BBC tribute. (It’s hosted by Stephen Fry and well worth a listen if you have the time.)

I first became acquainted with him when I moved to Britain in 1996. He was the host of a very funny “antidote to panel games” I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue on BBC Radio 4.

Over on BBC Radio 2, he was the host of Best of Jazz where I learned just about everything I know about jazz, and was introduced to another “hero” of mine, Billie Holiday. His commentary was erudite, witty, eccentric and wide-ranging, and that show was my Monday night treat.

When I moved back to Canada in 2002, I was desperately homesick for Britain. One of the first things I did was set up my Internet streaming so that I could hear him each week. Sometimes, when listening to his jazz show and typing late into the night, I actually forgot I was in Canada. He managed to soothe my homesickness and make it worse at the same time.

He was a brilliant jazz musician in the British New Orleans tradition, and his friend Louis Armstrong described him as “that cat in England who swings his ass off.” True words, Louis. Humph could swing.

My good bloggie friend the Bad Tempered Zombie may know that in 2001 Humphrey Lyttleton recorded a session with Indie rockers Radiohead after guitarist Jonny Greenwood wrote to him saying:

It’s probably an awful cheek and we’re sure you’re very busy, but we’re a bit stuck.

Radiohead. Stuck. Imagine. The piece is called Living in a Glass House on the Amnesiac album.

His humour on the panel show was legendary for its wit and supposed unintended innuendo which was of course intended, but The Humph managed to set it up so that you, the audience, picked up on his raunchy double entendre. He was rude in the most charming and gentlemanly of ways.

Interestingly he was born into an aristocratic bloodline. He was brought up and educated as a member of the upper middle class, but early on in his life he rejected that lifestyle and became a socialist and jazz musician. He turned down an offer of a knighthood from the Queen.

The Humph was still playing, broadcasting and hosting his panel show at age 86. Earlier this year he did a round-the-country tour with his band. At the end of his show he played a stirring version of “We’ll Meet Again” - you know, Vera Lynn and all that - on his trumpet. This brought an audience of 3500 to their feet where they remained for ten minutes.

A few days after that concert, he went in for surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm in his heart. He died from complications.

Many of my bloggie friends wax rhapsodically over their fave music and musicians.

Barbara the Bad Tempered Zombie has her Radiohead

Beth has her REM.

BeckEye has Eddie Vedder.

Well, I guess GT has her Humphrey Lyttelton. And if any one of you gals lost Eddie Vedder, Michael Stipe or Thom York, you’d know how I feel right now.

RIP Humph.

Sex and the City Part II: they’re really just gay men

Published June 8, 2008 in beauty and culture. 5 Comments

What about the idea that those four women are actually depictions of four gay males?

I’ve been told by a gay friend that this show has a huge following in his “community” because it presents an accurate portrayal of the lives and psyches of gay males.

It’s well known that the writer of the series, Darren Star, is a gay male, and that his interpretation of Candice Bushnell’s columns is loose.

Not to go all post-structural on you here, but isn’t it a good bet that Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are really Calvin, Matthew, Charlie and Sam?

I am a Canadian Idol virgin

Published June 4, 2008 in Canada and culture. 18 Comments

OK, I admit it. I am no longer an American Idol virgin.

I watched the show this year beginning-to-end. And I must say, I enjoyed it, thanks in no small part to the excellent and hilarious post-show deconstructions of BeckEye and Chancelucky. (And of course, Michael Johns who’s demise came far too soon.)

But when it comes to Canadian Idol, I’m still pure as driven snow.

It is yet to be seen whether I will go all the way with Canadian Idol. I’m not normally big on summer time TV watching and what with the Olympics coming up this summer - it could be iffy.

But last night I sat down in earnest for my first CI show. Season 6 kicked off with the usual crop of wouldbes, couldbes and wannbes.

For my American friends who don’t see it, Canadian Idol is more or less a clone of its American big brother. You have the same format, look and music. The big difference is that Canadian Idol has four judges, not three: Jake Gold, Sass Jordan, Farley Flex and Zack Werner.

Not sure why - it adds unnecessary bulk to the show and there is the spectre of a tie.

It seems there are two Simons, one being the enforcer, Jake, the other delivering the brutal lines, Zack. “You sound like Alvin without the Chipmunks,” Zack said to one hapless wannabe last night. Girl rocker Sass is the Paula, although I daresay a more articulate and together Paula. And Farly is the Randy.

Then there is the slick, tanned host Ben Mulroney who is no Ryan Seacrest. I’ve blogged on Ben before and will leave him alone. For now.

It was my impression last night that the judges went out of their way to be either brutal or excessive in their praise. Their rude laughter at auditions struck me as too loud for Night One, too intense and quick off the mark. It didn’t ring true, somehow. We need to warm up to judges before we can accept their more extreme reactions.

The auditions took place in Toronto, Calgary and Edmonton. If you got through this round, you emerged with your gold ticket screaming “I’m going to Toronto!” For some reason this struck me as comical. Not sure why.

Auditions included the predictable screeching on stage, the tearful I’ve-worked-so-hard-you-gotta-let-me-through, the off-key stuff, and the weirdness.And what would Idol be without the weirdness?

There were a few notables, Earl from Lloydminster for example. By day, he works at Bob’s Backhoe and by night he projects his passion on his music. He sang Heard it on the Grapevine which wasn’t bad. The judges fawned. Not sure if he deserved the high-octane fawning he received.

There were brothers Oliver and Sebastian Pigott who were also OK, but I wasn’t moved in the same way as the judges, who said one of brothers was the best audition ever on Canadian Idol.

Then there was 17-year old Brianne Chalifour from Leoville, Saskatchewan.

“What year is it in Leoville?” asks Zack, commenting on the ill-conceived get-up worn by the small-town teenager trying to look like a rocker. True, she was over-the-top with jungle garb that brought to mind American Idol’s Amanda Overmeyer. But Zack’s comment was another example of the unnecessary brutality. It was the first night and she was obviously a young and naive girl. Even Simon wouldn’t have gone for a low blow like that.

Brianne sang Heart’s “Barracuda.” Not bad, not great. When it didn’t look likely that she’d get though, Brianne cried and begged. She needed this to help her grow up, she wailed, tears streaming down her made-up face.

The judges recanted and put her through.

“I don’t think you have a hope in hell of making it to the Top 10, but I think it will be a life-changing opportunity for you so on that note Brianne, pick up the ticket kid because you’re coming to Toronto,” says Zack.

OK I may be a sap on the dissing of her clothes, but if Brianne doesn’t deserve to be put through based on talent, then don’t put her through. If this is the criteria for Canadian Idol, then I don’t know if I’m going all the way.

But the real problem with the show was the vibe, or lack thereof.

On the first night, you need to feel that you’re embarking on a journey with these people. They are your travel mates, sometimes friends and sometimes not. For better or for worse, it should be an adventure and you should feel the excitement and anticipation for what is to come.

But I didn’t get that last night on Canadian Idol. It left me neutral, cold and flat.

The little typists expressed this too, only they put it more bluntly. “Don’t know if we’ll bother with this next week.”

We shall see.

Martha Stewart’s ruining the par-tay

Published May 30, 2008 in Uncategorized, culture and slack woman. 13 Comments

Go to my Herald column here.

What would you rather do: “throw a party” or do “some entertaining?”

Would you rather see your host relaxing and having fun, or shuffling around attending to people’s needs?

Would you rather herd into the kitchen and drink beer from the bottle? Or be seated in the living room and be served cocktails and hors d’œuvres?

When did having a few friends in for an evening become such a chore? It’s like someone’s trying to take all the fun out of it.

I know who to blame: The Gracious One.

Martha Stewart’s empire was built on the idea of entertaining at home. But if you listen to her and follow all of the silly little rules, you could end spoiling the party.

So party on, dudes. It’s supposed to be fun.

lululemon: crack cocaine for the middle aged woman?

Published May 29, 2008 in Uncategorized and culture. 24 Comments

Brand hype is nothing new. Think Apple, Halo3, Sex in the City.

Yoga wear is nothing new, either. It’s great for kicking around the house and things like, well, yoga. But the lululemon phenomenon is curious.

Sure, the iconic brand appeals to young girls and young women still in the process of forming their identities and making the statement with the brand. I AM lululemon therefore I am.

But when I visited* the newly-opened lululemon store in town, it was full of middle-aged, middle-class women breathlessly ripping yoga trousers off the shelves and trying on matching bomber shell jackets. We’ll leave the matter of yoga wear fashion crimes aside for now, other than to say yoga wear should go no further than the house, yoga studio or running route.

Why are these women throwing themselves at something that is essentially overpriced elastic when they can purchase equally nice brands of stretchy yoga pants for half the price? (Women were lined up outside the store and around the corner on opening day. This wasn’t a rock concert with a finite number of tickets. It’s a store that would remain open in the days and weeks and presumably years to come.)

Is the lululemon brand the female equivalent of the male middle life crisis little red convertible? Is it code for youth? I wear lululemon therefore I AM young?

lululemon has nice yoga pants and the service is good, but it is overpriced and overhyped. And there are less expensive equally attractive alternatives. I do not get lululemon. And I don’t get why middle class, middle aged women are throwing themselves at this brand.

* the lululemon visit was on the request of a certain young lady who will soon be a Grade six graduate. She chose lululemon yoga pants as her present. She shares a nickname with part of the lululemon brand name but there is no lemon in her name.

Or you can choose

Published May 3, 2008 in Uncategorized and culture. 12 Comments

I’ve downloaded a Theme Switcher plug-in.

This allows you to choose the skin you like.

Look in the sidebar. I’ve inserted the php code at the top in each theme.

Click on a theme and you can see my blog in the various different skins I’ve tested this week. I’m not sure if this will bust my bandwidth, but we’ll have a whirl.

Have a look at each and tell me which one works best for you.

BTW, K2 is the old one.

Now I have to go for a walk with my family before they all divorce me. (I’ve been on the computer too much the last few days.)

Actually, it’s sunny outside and I need to be liberated from all this geekiness.

Death-to-dandelions movement is a mystery to me

Published May 2, 2008 in Uncategorized and culture. 15 Comments

See my Herald column here.

In my town they’ve banned lawn pesticides. And that’s a good thing IMHO.

But this ban has had a strange knock-on. It’s given rise to a whole movement of dandelion pluckers.

These people are like the Rambos of Suburbia, out there stalking down the little yellow enemy and ripping them out by their roots, sometimes with their bare hands.

You see them outside after supper on their seek-and-destroy missions. They are unstoppable, obsessive, merciless. You can almost hear them saying: Death to Dandelions.

I sometimes want to stop them and say: They’re dandelions; not the Taliban.

My question is why? What is the harm? Dandelions are lovely little flowers that add interest, dimension and texture to lawns. These are the things a landscape designers strive for, aren’t they?

Maybe if these Super Pluckers just stopped, took a seat on the front step and got some perspective, they might see flowers growing on the lawn - free flowers - instead of little yellow enemies.

And just think how much better their backs would feel.

Just for fun on a Friday

Published May 1, 2008 in blogs and culture. 13 Comments

This theme is Working Girl.

It could also be called Working Typist.

I have to admit that it does represent a certain typist of your acquaintance crunched over sitting up straight at a keyboard all day long. (Only my desk is not so neat).

A certain 11-year old daughter has been over my shoulder this week offering unvarnished opinions of my Wordpress theme choices.

She thought this rocked. So this one’s for her.

It fits with the typist in me and it’s sort of fun for a Friday.

Don’t cha think?

To get Dylan tickets you must “Submit”

Published April 4, 2008 in culture. 16 Comments

Go to live column here.

The musical legend Bob Dylan is coming to town and I scored a couple tickets online . But it wasn’t pretty.

I knew they’d go fast, so I set up a little command centre at the computer. At 9 am on Saturday morning, I started dialing and loading the website.

I dial and loaded. Busy signal. Slow website. More busy-ness. Re-dial. Busy again. Website going nowhere fast. Swearing at phone signal. Website sloooowwww.

And finally, I was in. But things just got uglier once inside. Word verification. Wrong. And wrong again. Postal code. Wrong. Delivery method? Huh? You mean like caesarian or natural delivery?

And then, after feverishly filling the whole thing out and finally getting it right, I hit Submit. And what did the website do? Load. Load. Looooooaaadddddddd.

And….. opps, time out. Start over again.

WHAT? Who the…? What the…? How the …?

But it your fault, you see, because when you hit this word “Submit”, that is what you are doing: submitting. To the machine. You are a powerless peon. Your actions are futile. If you get tickets, they will be in the nose bleed section.

That is your destiny. So, go head, Submit.

What do you do with an old oil storage tank?

Published March 12, 2008 in Canada, culture, odd things, photos and travels. 7 Comments

Well, you convert it into a bar and grill, of course. Or at least that’s what they do here at Flippers..I’d heard of this place but didn’t really believe until I spotted it with my own eyes one day. It is located about an hour and a half’s drive from my house. Luckily I had my camera that day, otherwise no one would have believed it.

Flippers was closed on this particular day, but some day I will walk into that oil storage tank, slap down a fiver on the bar and order a beer from Flippers.

Someday.

The dilemma of Tom Sawyer and the N word

Published March 6, 2008 in culture and words. 13 Comments

The other night I was merrily reading Adventures of Tom Sawyer to the little typists. It’s good stuff, very funny and a great read.

But then I stumbled upon THAT word. I stopped and made the snap decision to read the word out loud.

Then, all hell broke lose. The little typists were shocked and they admonished me for using such filthy racist language. I was pleasantly surprised by their outrage. They are 11 and nine.

So we had the chat. The book was published in 1876 but it was based on Mark Twain’s memories of growing up in the South in the 1840s when racism was still rife.

I chose to read the N-word “as is” to show them how racism was deployed, even by fun likable people like Tom Sawyer. I wanted them to understand that people used that word and still do. I wanted them to see that racism still exists, sometimes it comes from fun likable people they know.

So, should I have changed the word to something else - like say “tiger? I certainly would have changed the word if I thought they were too young to understand a concept like racism. But I felt they were mature enough to have the chat.

Is it right to use N-word to educate people about racism? Or are we perpetuating it by using it?

Someone else blogged about this awhile back. I can’t recall who it was. If you see this, let me know your thoughts.

G-spotting

Published February 23, 2008 in culture. 8 Comments

Back in the 50s a man called Gräfenberg said he discovered the Holy Grail of female sexual pleasure. He modestly named that spot after himself: G-spot.

Then in the 1980s another man called Stewart said he proved the G-spot was a myth: G-spot not.

In 2008, yet another man called Jannini said that some women have a G-spot and some women don’t.

To G-spot or not to G-spot?

Hmmmm.

And what do you suppose that this all proves?

That men, bless ‘em,  just can’t make up their minds.

Books and Bad Tempered Zombies

Published February 5, 2008 in CBC Radio, culture and words. 15 Comments

In my continuing effort to satisfy the 100-Things meme challenge issued by the Bad Tempered Zombie, here is a list of the books I’m reading.

I’m not a one-book-at-a-time sort of reader. I don’t feel I need to finish one book before starting another. There is freedom in dipping into this book or that one at your pleasure. I finish most books I start, although I don’t force myself to read something that is poorly written, badly drawn and a waste of time. (DaVinci Code).

I’m not a book freak. I don’t preach on my or anyone else’s need to read. I just like having things that interest me at arm’s length. Books satisfy that. So do taped TV shows, rented videos and good friends.

My choices are non-fiction. A lot of fiction I’ve read over the last few years has underwhelmed me, even the “good” stuff. But I’m not anti-fiction, just a bit short on inspiration at the moment.

I’m a sucker for a hardcover and all but one book on this list are hardcover. I’m always open to new suggestions so please tell me what you think I’d like.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan. a seminal work on food, the food industry and our twisted relationship with food. This is a break-out book, like Fast Food National of a few years ago. He has a new one coming out called In Defense of Food which wants to put the fun back in food.

Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite 3 - All in One - This is work-related reading. The book covers the basis of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver and Acrobat. I’m getting there with Photoshop , Acrobat and Dreamweaver, just beginning Flash and In Design, and still lost in space with Illustrator.

Cook with Jamie , Jamie Oliver - After a long, long break, I’m going back to cooking for fun. I love food and used to enjoy cooking. Jamie Oliver is an engaging character who is passionate about food and cooking. My first Jamie-cooking foray was the other night - Pot-roasted Poussins Agro Dolce with Sticky Saucepan carrots. It was a roaring success.

The Long Tail, Chris Anderson - This was the buzz book of last year. It provides a good explanation of the new business model in the Internet era. This is a world of unlimited choice, aggregators, niche markets and virtual communities that congregate around one interest. Anyone doing business, communications, manufacturing or delivering any service would benefit from this book. (Update since writing this post: I’ve finished this book. I can recommend it)

The Canon, A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science Natalie Angier - Written by the science correspondent for the New York Times, this book is an eloquent and lyrical exploration of the subjects so many of us feared in school. She makes physics a joy to read. Ditto chemistry, evolutionary biology, astronomy and geology. Last night I read about the laws of thermodynamics and was thoroughly charmed and engaged. The world needs more good science writers like Angier.

Sound Bites, Alex Kapranos - Some of you may know him from Scots rock band Franz Ferdinand. This book is an eating diary recorded while he was on a world tour with the band. He discusses what he eats, where he eats it and the people he eats with. A fun book.

The (like) Language Report (for real), Susie Dent - part of a series, this book takes you to the front lines of the rapidly evolving English language. It’s not judgmental and fearful of change as some language books can be. I particularly enjoyed the Headlines section. One notable was “Dirty Harry” which appeared in The Sun after Prince Harry visited a lap dancing club.

The Mitfords, by Charlotte Mosley - letters of the six infamous Mitford sisters who shocked the world with their politics, novels, marriages and aristocratic antics during the 20th century. Their friends included Adolf Hitler, Queen Elizabeth, Evelyn Waugh, and President Kennedy. You could say that the Mitfords were the Paris Hiltons and Britney Spears of the 20th century only the Mitfords were wittier and less banal.

Quotation Marks, Marjorie Garber - written by a heavy hitter English professor from Harvard, this collection of essays applies sharp academic thinking to pop culture, among other things. Only read one of the essays, an exploration of the Jewish angle in the whole Monica Lewinsky affair. This stuff is smartly written, well referenced and a delight to read.

E= Einstein: His Life, His Thought, and His Influence on Our Culture, edited by Donald Goldsmith and Marcia Bartusiak. I’ve been at this one for about a year. It’s a collection of essays on the man’s life, his theories, family and politics. I find his physics interesting, especially Special Relativity, but the way he came up with his ideas is riveting to me. He used instinct, creativity and critical thinking to come up with his ideas and then his scientific genius to prove them.

Books on my bedside table but not yet cracked: On Beauty, Zadie Smith and Night Watch, Sarah Walters.

Bad Tempered Zombie 100-things meme count for this post: 12

Bad Tempered Zombie 100-things meme total: 35+12 = 47

When you can’t hibernate in winter…

Published January 23, 2008 in Uncategorized and culture. 13 Comments

I am at heart a hibernating mammal. Between the months of January and April, the instincts in the lower back part of my brain instruct me to do the following

1. Find cave

2. Bed down

3. Sleep for three months, give or take a week depending on the weather.

It’s unfortunate that I seem to live in world not set up for this sort of thing. Obviously this complicates my life enormously. So I must do what successful mammals have always done: evolve.

This winter my strategy is to find a good crop of 2006/7 flicks and curl up in my quasi-hibernation pit in the basement to watch them. I have been trawling newspapers and critics I respect to compile this list. It is in my “little book” which comes out whenever I visit the video store.

(Note: This list is also part of a tag challenge issued by my new best bloggie the Bad Tempered Zombie who has asked me to offer up a list of 100 things about myself. Being a mammal of shallow instincts, I cannot think of 100 things all at once so I will dribble feed over the next few weeks, starting with my flick list.*)

1. Lives of Others - German, Academy-award winning story about life behind the Iron Curtain.

2. This is England - British, Skinhead drama set in Thatcherite England.

3. Son of Rainbow (2008) - British, coming of age flick. Don’t know a lot about it other than there was a bidding war for distribution rights and it is at Sundance Film Fest.

4. Amazing Grace - British, 18th-century drama about William Wilberforce and his quest to abolish slavery in Britain.

5. 4 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days - Romanian, about a woman who assists her friend to have an illegal abortion in the 1980s.

6. Into the Wild, American, top student and athlete gives his money to charity and takes a journey to Alaska. Directed by Sean Penn.

7. Juno, American, teenager who becomes pregnant and deals with it. Lots of hype but looks interesting. Actor Ellen Page nominated for Academy award.

8. Atonement, British, liked the book, like Ian MacEwan who wrote the book. World War II (melo?)drama.

9. Beowulf, American, animated film based on old English epic poem, a sort of Anglo-Saxon Indiana Jones. Has Angelina Joli, but otherwise seems interesting.

10. Mataharis, Spanish, Private detective infiltrates the employees at a multinational corporation and confronts the line between what should be public and what should remain private. A comedy that is thought-provoking.

*100 things challenge count = 15