Best of 2007

With the spirit of 2007 behind me, here's my best-of/most lists.

Top 5 Most Listened-to Tracks (as compiled by iTunes, my record player and walkman, and the CD player in my car)

1. Intervention- The Arcade Fire
2. Roads- Portishead
3. Aside- The Weakerthans
4. Throw Down Our Arms- Sinead O'Connor
5. Forever Indebted- Shout Out Out Out Out

Top 5 Most Listened-to Albums

1. The Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
2. Harvest- Neil Young
3. Linton Kwesi Johnson- More Time
4. Lipa Kodiya City Council- Untitled
5. The Weakerthans- Reconstruction Site

Top 5 Books

1. Palestine- Joe Sacco
2. The Jew of New York- Ben Katchor
3. Persepolis- Marjane Satrapi
4. Exalted Subjects- Sunera Thobani
5. Maus- Art Spiegelman

Top 5 Biggest influences/highlights of the year

1. My friends, home and away (all year)
2. Teaching my first university course (post-september)
3. Bringing a record player into my life (february onwards)
4. Reading my first graphic novel (sometime in the spring)
5. Learning that alone is ok (still ongoing)

Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine

Adrian Tomine's latest graphic novel "Shortcomings" is a work of subtle, yet deep intensity that takes readers through a range of emotions, using his notable wit and humour.

On the outside, it seems like the story of Ben Tanaka and Miko Hayashi, two thirty-somethings coming to the end of their long-term relationship. And in some ways, that's it. But through Tomine's evocative illustrations and his punchy dialogue we are taken into the often boring/at times riveting world of everyday human desire and interaction.

This is best exemplified through Ben's ongoing desire for white women, articulated in his porn addiction and hiring practices, both of which Miko regularly problematizes. As the rift in their relationship grows with Miko's evolving race politics, Ben delves further into himself to escape any reproach. The reader is left wondering why these two are in fact staying together, a point poignantly made by Miko near the end of the story, when she explains, rather self-evidently, that holding onto someone simply/mostly because you're afraid of change is never a good idea. Indeed. But just how many of us have done this, and continue to do this? When one is stuck- as Ben and Miko so painfully are- in a pattern of denial, then anything is possible.

In any case, the true strength of Tomine's narrative is in the minutia, for example, the conversations between Ben and Miko, or Ben and his best (and only) friend, Alice. The dialogue is raw and real, so much so that I couldn't help but continuously think back to arguments I've had with lovers, friends and some odd characters who have come and gone in my life. In that sense, reading this book is a little like finding yourself in a Leonard Cohen poem- sexy, surly, and a bit surreal (is this really happening to me?)

Did I mention the drawings? Those are some fiery hot lead characters. Tomine is quickly becoming a master.

The 160 Workshop Series

We're planning our second installment of the 160 Workshop Series. Check out our blog or click on the image to find out about the details.

www.160workshops.blogspot.com

The 160 Workshop Series

Beth & I have decided to tap into the wonderful creative energy that surrounds us and bring it together- a synergistic attempt to meld artistic mediums.

The 160 Workshop Series invites all interested peeps in Ottawa to join us in a series of music, visual arts and baking workshops. Click on the link below to access our blog, where you'll find all the pertinent information. Among the workshops--- intro to sound recording and turntabling, bookmaking, t-shirt design and vegan baking.

Come join us for the fun.

http://160workshops.blogspot.com/

Remembering

I watched a movie and it seemed everybody in it was trying to forget, but no matter how hard they tried, they remembered even more. So much so, that it became all they could do. Remembering what they were trying so hard to forget.

They would stare blankly at perfect strangers and loved ones alike and claim to know nothing. Rumours, conspiracies, gossip, they’d say. None of it was true. It was everything to remember something someone could point to. For years this was enough to push the voices that kept creeping into their minds away. But then the voices became so loud that they were forced to let them in, where they had always been, silenced.

A lifetime of trying to forget, to erase, is exhausting. I can’t forget those things I wish I could, they stay with me for days that turn into years, yet I never really claim to forget them, even though I wish to. But, I was reminded tonight that fighting to forget is doomed from the beginning.

It’s never about forgetting the past. It’s about remembering it differently.

Colonialism Revisited

Making dinner tonight, I was listening to the radio, hoping to get caught up on some local, national and international happenings. Little did I know that I'd be given a stark lesson in contemporary colonial politics.

Not surprisingly, earlier today Canada, along with Australia, New Zealand and the United States voted against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which has been in the works for nearly 30 years. Not only am I utterly embarrassed, but I'm nearly at a loss for words. Nearly.

Another segment that followed only a few short minutes later discussed the story of the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) in northern Ontario, based in Ignace to be exact. The board has refused to accept any Aboriginal students from the Obashkaandagaang First Nation (OFN) because their government is apparently $1 million in arrears in their debt to the KPDSB. Forget the fact that the debt is perhaps decades old, or that the OFN has actually paid tuition for its students for the past 8 years. Let's also forget about the fact that the money for Aboriginal education is a federal jurisdiction and that school boards in Ontario normally see any status First Nation student as a source of extra, federal funding for their operations. Let's forget about all of that.

Let's just think about the fact that the local school board and all of its affiliated schools are barring local students from attending these schools. In reality, regardless of their avowed intentions, what they are doing by taking away these children's rights to an education, is violating one of child's primary rights. Luckily, we signed the UN Declaration of the Rights of the Child in 1959, not joining the United States and Somalia (which had no functioning government at the time) as the only hold-outs. Here is an excerpt of Principle 7 of the Declaration, one I argue the KPDSB is in direct contravention-

"The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages. He shall be given an education which will promote his general culture and enable him, on a basis of equal opportunity, to develop his abilities, his individual judgement, and his sense of moral and social responsibility, and to become a useful member of society.

The best interests of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his education and guidance[...]"

Thus, it is into this context of national and international disregard for the rights of indigenous peoples that I see these two events as intimately connected. How can I not? The school board trustees in northern Ontario see the rights of indigenous peoples in a much different light than they see their own, and those of their own children, otherwise, how could they not take a different bargaining tract? Their budget does not face a shortfall, they are not on the verge of insolvency, they are simply harking to get back what is apparently owed, using Aboriginal students as leverage.

But if we all properly considered what was owed in a much different moral universe, a mere $1 million would seem a drop in a bucket of colonial misdeeds. I won't bother to list these indiscretions off here, but the position Canada took today is a very accurate reflection of the status of indigenous peoples in this country. Let's not fool ourselves into thinking otherwise.

Our story as Canadians is premised in the first order on violence against indigenous peoples, and sometimes it seems we are unable to see ourselves any other way. I'm only glad that the children from the OFN were able to secure spots in the local First Nation education authority for this year, just in time for October. What a sorry state.

The North Side Bike Polo Invitational 2007

I went to the final game of the NSBI 2007 at Ev Tremblay Park in west Ottawa on Sunday, September 2nd, and it was a wicked game. The Shottas from Ottawa played Overrated from NYC, who won 5-3. It was a well contested match, with lots of blood left on the court, which seems somehow inevitable in bike polo given the number of collisions.

Overall, the NSBI was a huge success, with teams from NYC, Philly, Milwaukee, Dayton (Ohio), Toronto and Ottawa. Here are some pics.

Festival de montgolfières de Gatineau

J’ai été au Festival de montgolfières de Gatineau avec des amis ce soir, et c’était plus mémorable que j’aurais pensé.

Quoique que nous avons décidé que $15 était un peu trop cher à payer pour la rentrée sur le terrain officiel, nous avons pu trouver un endroit idéal pour regarder le départ des montgolfières. Comme vous pourrez constater des photos ci-dessous, c’est un événement coloré.

Time's Made Up My Mind

I dreamt that life had passed me by. In fact, there it was, racing by me, NASCAR-style, with no planned stops. I swore at it every time. I yelled at the top of my lungs, urging it to stop for me, to just let me take a breath before I jumped back in. Please give me a moment, and I’ll be right back on board. But there were no moments to spare. And it passed me by, over and over again.

For the first two years I put up a good fight. A great fight even. I ran and ran and ran, never looking back, trying to catch up. Then I stopped and waved and waved and waved, until I realized that there was no waiting for me. Finally, after two years of this nonsense, I resigned myself to accept my fate. I stood there, watching it pass me by over and over again.

There it would be, with different passengers every time, people with purposes, with steely gazes, with goals and plans and blackberries and lists. I had none of that.

Then something odd happened. I woke up. The dream was over. There had never been a race. Only misplaced regrets. Time’s made up my mind. I’ve become a driver. And I wasn’t even looking for a job.

The Phantom Strike

Summer thundershowers feel like a loving embrace. Comforting. A phantom strike in the night, when darkness unveils the stars and the sky lights up with moonlight. The smell of the rain, its dampness, reminds me of days long past, when thunder made me cower into a corner, waiting...

inspiration