Hmmm, doesn't quite carry the weight you'd think

From CBC, 4 former PMs join call for climate change action. Thing is, the former Prime Ministers are Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, John Turner and Paul Martin. Not exactly an all-star line-up. An only slightly more noteworthy bunch than the current cast of This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Meanwhile, we do have some cool news from some actual heavyhitters. Regina's Sylvie have got artwork, tracklisting and a release date (Oct 21)--along with the all-important pre-ordering info--for their new album Trees and Shade Are Our Only Fences on their label's website. No actual tracks yet, but one or two teasers should be forthcoming. In the meantime, here's a number from their last alb, An Electric Trace. And what the hell, how about the video?

mp3: "Rise and Fall" by Sylvie

The Door I Came Through Has Been Closed

Stephen Harper's reasons for calling an election one full year before the date he himself chose to fix in Parliament will likely remain his own, at least during the course of the campaign.
Perhaps he hoped to send us to the polls before we follow the US economy too far into the toilet. Or maybe he's afraid of what might be revealed in the coming inquiries into the many Tory scandals that have yet to go before full public scrutiny. Or maybe there's something even worse right around the corner.
Whatever his reasons, the move is typical of a PM obsessed with excercising absolute control since the day he took office. From neutering the national press corps to muzzling Environment Canada's scientists, Harper has done everything within his power (and then some) to silence his critics--except, of course, conducted himself as if the title "Right Honourable" was something other than a nicety that came with his current job.
One of Harper's biggest tentpoles in the 2006 campaign was his US-style War on Daycare, the result of which has been that Canadian working families now have a better chance of having hip surgery before they get their kids into daycare. And when the leader of our nation displays such gross indifference toward Canadian children, how surprised were we that he and his government have no love for an initiative that has been shown to improve drug addicts' likelihood of entering treatment--let alone of living long enough to enter rehab, reduce the spread of Hep C and HIV, and save the health care system some money.
And if Harper's craven disregard (to put it charitably) for the lowest end of the socio-economic spectrum doesn't faze you, how about the fact that while Prime Minister, he continued to debate the existence of climate change even as the polar ice caps receded a little further into oblivion. Not only was he unwilling to do anything about it, he was unwilling to even entertain the thought of doing anything about.
Global Warming just might be the greatest challenge Canadian society has ever faced, and Prime Minister Harper has spent much of his first term in office with his fingers in his ears, singing "La la la, if I can't hear you you're not there! La la la!"
Even when Liberal Leader Stephane Dion drafted his Green Shift policy--which, at best, will slow the accelleration of Canada's contribution to the damage being done by carbon dioxide emissions--Harper chose to attack it on a purely economic level. As if anyone will give a shit about the TSX when the oceans boil, if you'll excuse the hyperbole.

And that's why it's good to know Portland OR's Old Time Relijun will be making their first BC appearance in five years this Thursday, Sept. 11 at the Biltmore.

mp3: "The Door I Came Through Has Been Closed" by Old Time Relijun
mp3: "Sabretooth Tyger" by Old Time Religion
mp3: "Everything Is Broken" by Old Time Religion

See Jesse Eat. Eat, Jesse, Eat.

If this video makes you uncomfortable, imagine being related to the guy.

(buy the album here)

Wait, issuing a news release is brave now?

While my sympathy goes out to Regina Tory MP Dave Batters as he deals with his mental health and drug addiction issues, is what he did really worthy of the praise being heaped upon him by the mental health community?
Okay, sure, as a public figure, he deserves some credit for bringing mental health issues to public eye. But as an elected member of Parliament, a member of the ruling government even, isn't a press release really the least he could have done for mental health?

Dear Regina: Don't Eff This Up

Some good news to share:

-Former Regina Police Service Chief Calvin Johnston (not to be confused with Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening and Dub Narcotic Sound System) is running for the Liberals in Regina Palliser. During his service as Regina's top cop, Johnston repeatedly proved himself to be a stand-up-guy with a keen understanding of a broad array of justice-related issues. He should have a decent shot, especially since the incumbent MP, Conservative Dave Batters, is stepping down to deal with a benzo addiction. Those conservatives...the rhetoric sure falls short of, y'know, real life. Dave, you have my sympathy. If I had to work for a boss whose only consistency was general incompetence, I'd suffer "anxiety and depression" too. Said Batters in his press release, "There is still a stigma attached to such illnesses and I want to make sure people realize these are conditions that can strike anyone and need to be treated." I'm not sure which "conditions" he's talking about, but if he means drug addiction, then he's off the party line, according to Harper's promise of "a short and miserable life" for drug addicts.

-Frances Bula is back! The former Vancouver Sun civic affairs reporter and blogger now has a blog under her very own name that is every bit as essential to unpacking life in Vancouver as her old Sun blog was.

mp3: "Monkey Hips and Rice" by Dub Narcotic Sound System

Two years without a byline

"Passing to Where?"

Sometimes I take out my passport,

look at the photograph of myself

(not very good, etc.)

just to see if I exist

Tokyo
June 12, 1976

by Richard Brautigan

I left Regina near the end of August, 2006. Mainly because I was bored. I had outlived my usefulness to the city and vice versa. But we were still on speaking terms. It had been a rough couple of years for me and the Queen City. Both Buzzword Books and X-Ray Records closed up shop, and while Dave re-opened the record store a few months later and a few blocks over, the inbetween time cost me a lot of my faith in Regina to be the kind of place I wanted to live in. Sure, I love Regina as much as the next guy, but I was starting to get the feeling that Regina didn't love me back.

I had given the city my mercurial youth, wrapped up my ambitions in its ridiculous flag, and in my Quixotic folly, I believed I would be rewarded. Perhaps it was my definition of reward that got me in trouble. Chasing wealth and popular respect, I only found a chip on my shoulder. At the very least, I wanted to believe that I could expect to make a real living from my writing without leaving the city.


The problem was, I had no idea what I was doing. My sense of self was so entangled with seeing my name in print--like the Richard Brautigan poem at the top of the post--that I couldn't let go of my stalled-out writing career. I had a couple of promising leads that I hoped would take me to the next level...but various reasons, both only led to more frustration and dashed efforts. Neither of them won me anywhere near the money they initially promised, and since by then I was measuring my success by the size of my cheques.

And then...I walked away. As of this past weekend, I haven't written for money in two years (a milestone which officially ends my eligibility for membership in the Writers Guild of Canada--not that I was ever a member, but I considered it). My last paid article was an interview with the Zombies for the Leader-Post, a nice bookend to a tour of duty that started with a Joe Cocker interview. I haven't even drafted a query letter since I left R-Town.

Obviously, I haven't stopped writing. What you see on this blog is just the tip of the iceberg--and also the Titanic. I've got stuff on the go, stuff I've enjoyed writing more than I've enjoyed writing stuff in years. Stuff that's been seen by no one's eyes but my own.

But last month--has it been a month already???--my uncle Rick told me that he's read my blog and he doesn't understand half of it. OK. Let's face it, it's got no form, no theme, no purpose. But Rick also said that he used to enjoy reading my interviews with people. And y'know what, I used to enjoy conducting interviews with people. Most people. Some people, not really. But the point is... hey, there's no reason I can't still do interviews. So let's do some interviews.

mp3: "Lying on a Beach" by Joel Plaskett
mp3: "Sunshine and Grease" by Royal Trux

No Good Reason: New Howling Hex Track!

Earth Junk is the name of the album, due out on the 23rd of this September-y month. Drag City's got a track up, get it while you can. They don't usually leave mp3's up for more than a month.

It's been about a year since their last LP, XI, which is a long time between releases for Neil Hagerty. For the last ten years or so, going back to the Accelerator album from Royal Trux, NMH has routinely let loose two, sometimes three releases per year, even it's just an EP or a weird cover of a Dire Straits song. But there's been nothing but blog (awesomely weird stuff, mind you) since XI from the Hag, so Earth Junk might be the most hotly anticipated Howling Hex album since the first one.

"No Good Reason" by Howling Hex