The Scene and Herd

Running around my old haunts last night, I saw a sign up outside Boo Radley’s that said “Welcome Back All!” Since it’s just after Labour Day, I figured they were talking to all the students moving back to the city and starting things up again. But there are no colleges or universities around Boo Radley’s and it’s definitely not a student hang out, not by a long shot (undesirable area, completely out of the way). Still, I think they thought they should say something about school starting, because the city changes in September. You feel different, optimistic and such. It’s a remnant of twenty years of Septembers when you were beginning something new.

I haven’t been able to begin much lately. I’ve kind of a writer’s block, I guess, and my days feel unproductive. I know what the problem is: I’m stuck on a style that’s starting to bore me. This has happened before. I know I have to wait for a new approach to strike, and then I can write like crazy. But until then, I’m going to feel sluggish. Yesterday I spent hours at the library and couldn’t write a thing. I walked home with Johnnie around dinnertime and the elementary kids were all coming home from school, tired and sweaty in new clothes, looking like they wake up with purpose each day, the little ragamuffins. I was jealous of them, sort of wishing that September meant something new for me too.

Perhaps Jack Layton shares my nostalgia. I noticed he chose to use a back-to-school metaphor to describe the likelihood of an election. “Mr. Harper has already decided that he’s gung-ho about going out into the schoolyard and having a rumble with Mr. Ignatieff,” he said, perhaps trying to illustrate the immaturity of the two men. I think that those guys over at parliament are suffering from a block (and a bloc? I’m sorry, but I couldn’t…) of their own. They’re stuck on this election business as a means of persuasion, communication. It’s become their default style and you can tell they’re bored stiff of the business (not to mention their readers), but a new approach just hasn’t struck.

Layton might be aiming to make Harper and Ignatieff look childish with his metaphor, but at least those kids rumbling in the schoolyard go back to their desks when the bell rings. We’d be so lucky if the government would sit quietly for a few hours every day, do some math or something. I’m willing to bet Harper and Ignatieff are as jealous as I am of the students around here, the ones getting up in the morning to get things done, the little ragamuffins.

The Wire’s got a hold on me. We finished the entire series on Sunday and I’ve been depressed since. I feel like I just broke up with someone… luckily, ironically, I don’t have to go through this alone…

But I see the face of The Wire everywhere I look.

1. My friend Nyron’s facebook has a picture of him in new glasses, to which his friend refers to as “The brother Mouzone” shot.

2. An article about the Michelle Obama homeless man cellphone debacle (in which right-wingers get upset that a guy with a cell phone goes to a soup kitchen…rich people that have obviously had ZERO contact with ANY poor people) refers to the disposable cell phone trend that we should all be aware of via The Wire.

3. A Macleans article that talks about gang violence in Canada and how Stephen Harper did an oddly humane and decent thing by holding a closed meeting with regional police chiefs and family members of gang murder victims and saying, “You’ve all got five minutes to tell me how to help.”

And Johnnie says “That’s what Carcetti should have done.”

This end is painful but I really learned a lot. My life and soul have been enriched and I am most certainly different.

I’m reminded of a Chuck Klosterman article in which he writes that when the Harry Potter demographic grows up they will dominate pop culture and constantly reference Harry Potter and he won’t even know it. And he won’t even know that he won’t know it.

In two decades, I will not be alienated or confused by passing references to Harry Potter; very often, I will be unaware that any reference has even been made. I will not know what I am missing. I’ll just feel bored, and I won’t know why.

Based on all the references to The Wire I’ve experienced in one short week, I was almost certainly bored before this wicked awesome series came into my life.

So some adjustment are at hand, but I’ve only well wishes. Go with God. I’m glad I knew ya.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20G17K_0ghU]

All this trouble over $3 billion is madness! I do not understand anyone’s deal! 

First of all, Stephen Harper, don’t you remember the agreement? Michael’s in charge. You’re on probation! But seriously, even if you weren’t, what’s your problem? The opposition wants to know how you’re going to spend $3 billion. How is that outrageous? Your response should have been,”hm… yeah okay. We’ll get you a copy of that.” Holy impulse reaction. Someone’s in a rut. 

Speaking of ruts, if Jack Layton ever says something decent without taking a jab at another party I’d be so surprised I’d probably throw up. His two cents on this thing:

Layton said the money should be added to gas tax transfers that go directly to municipalities. “That would get the money into their hands in weeks and they’d be able to put it to work immediately to create jobs,” he said in an interview.

Bravo! But wait…

“We certainly don’t support the creation of some sort of a blind trust that ministers can dip into and spend on their favourite projects without public accountability… We’ve seen that kind of fund go wrong so many times before. The Gomery Commission showed what happens when you get into that kind of plan.”

Kill two birds with one stone. Boring cheap shot.

My advice to all of them is to lighten up. You know that game people play where they list off all the things they would do with a million bucks? Well these guys get to do that for real, but with $3 billion! Holy crap!

If I got to spend $3 billion on the citizens (and permanent residents) of Canada, I’d be dying to share my plans with the opposition. Does anybody remember laughter?!

I seriously thought for a second that Michael Ignatieff was the Prime Minister of Canada. I went onto cbc.ca this morning and Iggy is headline news on the Obama visit. Apparently, Barack “will listen to us” on Afghanistan. I’ve also read that Ignatieff will “speak frankly” with Obama… 

Shouldn’t Stephen Harper be saying crap like this? Where’s he at? Canada seems way more excited about Obama’s meeting with the leader of the opposition than the PM.

I feel like we’re in old tyme days and Stephen Harper is our embarrassing older son and we have to let him stick around for the visit because he’s the oldest but we really want Obama to hang out with Ignatieff because, well, we like him better.

“Hello, Barack! This is ouroldestsonStephenbut THIS! This is Michael.” And then we push Iggy over to greet Obama while whispering to Harper to keep quiet or go make a fire or something.

Now I’m distracted. It was my intention to return at some point and say something to the merits of MI. But all this chaos. All this wonderful and exciting and terrifying chaos…

What terrifies me most is imagining what Harper is thinking. He must be freaking out, totally. The idea of that man feeling something chills me a bit, but the idea that he might be feeling rage…that is a nightmare!

Everyone is losing their minds and I’m not sure who to blame. I want to make it clear that I would rather not blame Harper. For the liberal leaning, this is too easy and it bores me. I’ve spent considerable time trying to glean something noble from his character. It can’t be easy leading a minority government.  Really, he is being very difficult. But I don’t think he is “out of touch” with the average Canadian or a total jerk. I believe
that he believes
that he has no other option. 

He is…pressing on because he practically has a phobia. A cooperation phobia, like the idea that he might work with the opposition flies right over his head. Since the election he has been hyper aware that cooperation is looming. He probably has cooperation nightmares. So when everyone else rejected the conservative economic package and someone breathed the word “cooperation” Harper freaked and blurted out “we’re doing it anyway!” 
And subsequently conceded a few things outta panic and now he’s screwed. He swung from one frantic end to another. A man usually so calm and self assured…

I still maintain that Harper could be a good leader. He just needs to really ATTACK this issue. And by issue I mean his issue with cooperation. And by “attack” I mean give it some gentle consideration.