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Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Hardly surprising
Strange how it's not legal to discriminate in law but in cash, well, the Tories run a slightly more segregated ship. Can anybody say "sponsorship scandal"? The key difference seems to be that the Liberals showed preferential treatment to certain Quebec ridings while the Conservatives show contempt for LGBT Canadians.
Or perhaps it's just that my sense of smell has deteriorated
When the Toronto garbage strike started, I told my housemate, who is relatively new to Canada, that the last one in 2002 went on forever and that the city was a total disaster.
"How long?" he asked.
"Oh, it must have been six weeks, eight weeks."
The 2002 strike, in fact, lasted 14 days. My memory, festooned with torn plastic bags and coffee-cup lids, had stretched with time.
Now we're 30 days into this strike and I realize that, in my estimation anyway, the city is just approaching the state of disrepair we achieved in 14 days last time. I think the green bin program and the expanded recycling program has made it easier--garbage is only picked up every second week, even when things are working correctly.
Also, although the union has really been calling the shots--why doesn't this issue erupt in January when a layer of ice can protect us and there's no tourists to scare away?--I think the city's doing a better job of handling things this time around. Touristy areas are being targeted by private cleanup crews. Overflowing bins are being cleaned up. The use of parks as temporary dumps--as horrifying as it is for the neighbours--was implemented in a quick and efficient way. There has been less illegal dumping.
In the seven years between the two strikes, we've learned something about garbage. Mostly that it ain't going to take care of itself.
"How long?" he asked.
"Oh, it must have been six weeks, eight weeks."
The 2002 strike, in fact, lasted 14 days. My memory, festooned with torn plastic bags and coffee-cup lids, had stretched with time.
Now we're 30 days into this strike and I realize that, in my estimation anyway, the city is just approaching the state of disrepair we achieved in 14 days last time. I think the green bin program and the expanded recycling program has made it easier--garbage is only picked up every second week, even when things are working correctly.
Also, although the union has really been calling the shots--why doesn't this issue erupt in January when a layer of ice can protect us and there's no tourists to scare away?--I think the city's doing a better job of handling things this time around. Touristy areas are being targeted by private cleanup crews. Overflowing bins are being cleaned up. The use of parks as temporary dumps--as horrifying as it is for the neighbours--was implemented in a quick and efficient way. There has been less illegal dumping.
In the seven years between the two strikes, we've learned something about garbage. Mostly that it ain't going to take care of itself.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
We're here, we ride, get used to it
Though I'm a fan of considerate and safe cycling, there's something about this list of suggestions that reminds me of the old-school approach to gay and lesbian defusing hatred against them: pretend you're just like them, no, pretend you're better than them. That way, they can't possibly hate you.
Women were told to wear skirts and makeup; men were supposed to be masculine. It was all about keeping your head down and praying for toleration. The goal was to fit in and to deny whatever part of yourself made that difficult. That didn't work, of course--it took radicals and subversives of all kinds to effect social change. So I'm not sure why cyclists would expect the same.
Sure, don't be an asshole. But a bike isn't a car and each of us is responsible for our own publicity. Just because one driver cuts me off or opens their door into my path doesn't mean every motorist is a danger to cyclists (though some times it feels like it). By the same token, cyclists should avoid falling into the trap of expecting each other to "represent." We shouldn't have to be popular to expect not to be killed when we go out.
Plus, the whole "drive your bike, don't ride it" doesn't really jibe with common usage. Bikes, I'm afraid, are ridden and motorists are going to have to live with it.
Women were told to wear skirts and makeup; men were supposed to be masculine. It was all about keeping your head down and praying for toleration. The goal was to fit in and to deny whatever part of yourself made that difficult. That didn't work, of course--it took radicals and subversives of all kinds to effect social change. So I'm not sure why cyclists would expect the same.
Sure, don't be an asshole. But a bike isn't a car and each of us is responsible for our own publicity. Just because one driver cuts me off or opens their door into my path doesn't mean every motorist is a danger to cyclists (though some times it feels like it). By the same token, cyclists should avoid falling into the trap of expecting each other to "represent." We shouldn't have to be popular to expect not to be killed when we go out.
Plus, the whole "drive your bike, don't ride it" doesn't really jibe with common usage. Bikes, I'm afraid, are ridden and motorists are going to have to live with it.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Was Brüno mostly filler?

Was it just me or was there something desperate about Sacha Baron Cohen's Brüno?
Baron Cohen and his producers devised mis-en-scène after mis-en-scène to entrap the squeamish and the homophobic (and I don't think they're automatically the same thing--the movie was as much about our fear of sex and eccentricity as it was about homosexuality). But his chosen victims were, for the most part, so controlled, so on message, so "I'm out of here as fast as I possibly can?" that he only managed to squeeze a few brief moments of discomfort out of each of them.
I mean, the setup for Congressman Ron Paul was spectacular--the hotel room, the champagne, the photos, the disappearing act with the pants--but the man did get out of there in the least embarrassing way possible. It was all build, build, build--then the person fled or, like the hunters out camping, turned silent and uncooperative, cinematically speaking.
(Which may be why so much of the movie felt set-up--the spider couldn't attract enough flies into his web. Possible exceptions: Paula Abdul taking about human rights work while, ahem, sitting on a person and the penultimate set piece, where the grudge-match fans cheered on the violence but freaked out on the same-sex kissing. But then, as if to offer an anecdote to all the hate of that scene, Brüno sings a song with celebrities he should be deflating, a set-up that had obviously been negotiated and constructed, which retroactively makes you reevaluate all the "real" incidents you've already seen.)
To fill up the holes in running time, the "plot" was pushed to the forefront with many scenes of Baron Cohen "acting" rather than "intervening." But without an audience, Baron Cohen's flamey performance is something a drag queen would do at home in front of the mirror: overwrought, self-indulgent and self-congratulatory but deeply unconvincing. When people complain that the move made them squirm, I wonder if it's Baron Cohen's interpretation of Brüno, rather than the world around him, that made them feel that way. Who'd want to watch a scripted movie performed this way? I blame the bad acting, though it could be that some audience members have not spent enough time in the underbelly of the gay world in order to set their flamboyancy meters to appropriate tolerance levels.
Even as a stereotype, Baron Cohen was one-note. Where was the defeat, the sliding of the mask in the face of the humiliation of "failing" in Hollywood? Where were the tantrums, the acting out? It's true that gay men construct studier and more ostentatious public personae than others, but it's also true that these constructions frequently falls apart. In this, Baron Cohen was very much a straight man putting on "gay face," afraid to deviate too far from his shtick for fear of striking a wrong note and alienating gay and gay-friendly audiences.
Part of the problem, I suppose, is the success of Borat. And I suppose reality TV shows in general. Even if people don't know it's Baron Cohen, they see the cameras, imagine a scenario where they will be humiliated and pull back.
Success seems to have made Baron Cohen pull back, too. It's the worst mistake a satirist can make: wanting people to like you. You can unflatteringly impersonate a Kazakhstani journalist without ever winking at the audience, because, I'm pretty sure, Kazakhstanis don't buy a lot of movie tickets. Who cares if you hurt their feelings? But the queers--cross them and they can bring you down. With Brüno Baron Cohen has tried to have it both ways--social criticism and conciliation. They are not compatible modes of expression.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Botton deprived of an 'undo' button

As petty and embarrassing as Alain de Botton's web post was, dressing down Caleb Cain for his teeth-baring review of de Botton's new book, you have to admit that it takes a big man to own it. What he might have lost in a bad review, he might very well have gained in publicity (of the "no such thing as bad" sort).
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work sits on my bookshelf right now. The topic makes me less eager to get to it than de Botton's previous efforts; I do think the further he strays from matters of the heart and one's inner life, the more difficulty he has framing his subject. I must also say that the Canadian and British editions come wrapped in are the weakest book jackets he's ever been subjected to (not that I'm judging). The U.S. cover is more compelling, conjuring de Botton's twee persona more aptly than the jet-setting internationalist photos.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
The Tories & Pride
I swear. It's not like Ablonczy used any of the words in the LGBT lexicon when she was handing over the money. She must have some kind of plausible deniability. Can't she claim she thought Pride was a casino?
But seriously. Either there is a set of criteria for the federal tourism money or it is a pork-barrel program where MPs pick and choose who gets what. This kerfuffle, and the treatment of poor Diane Ablonczy, suggests that latter, which should be far more embarrassing for any legitimate government than the complaints of a few rightwingers.
If there are criteria--and I'm sure there must be--it would be hard to imagine Pride Toronto, with its size and economic impact, being excluded for any reason other than discrimination based on sexual orientation which, the last time I looked, was against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Either way, it makes the Conservatives look very, very bad. Pork barrellers or anti-Charter discriminators. Take your pick.
But seriously. Either there is a set of criteria for the federal tourism money or it is a pork-barrel program where MPs pick and choose who gets what. This kerfuffle, and the treatment of poor Diane Ablonczy, suggests that latter, which should be far more embarrassing for any legitimate government than the complaints of a few rightwingers.
If there are criteria--and I'm sure there must be--it would be hard to imagine Pride Toronto, with its size and economic impact, being excluded for any reason other than discrimination based on sexual orientation which, the last time I looked, was against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Either way, it makes the Conservatives look very, very bad. Pork barrellers or anti-Charter discriminators. Take your pick.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
More Fringe notes
We're almost at the end of the "debut days" at the Toronto Fringe Festival--I have just one more show Saturday afternoon and I'll have done my reviewing duties. A few thoughts.
* The techies are an unforgiving bunch. Says one in the beer garden. "There was this one show today and they asked me for chairs! Chairs! What do they think this is? Are they going to be asking me for costumes next?" Then she started talking about what techies would do if they ran the world. I expected it to sound like Fascism, but it was more about some kind of automated lighting system.
* Most obvious piece of dialogue today: "Life is so... alive."
* Thursday's best line: "Nobody likes the aging divorcee but everyone loves a widow."
* If there is a choice between a no-name act that seems to come from a place of passion and an act with a few "professionals" on its roster--references to L.A. or London in the program bios, for example--always take the amateurs. Big egos spell indifferent work ethic and you have to wonder: If you're doing so well in L.A., why are you in the Fringe?
* In a similar vein, I am often left wondering about what it takes to make something "entertaining." I've seen plays that have been workshopped, dramaturged, workshopped again, performed and directed by trained theatre professionals that have been vastly less entertaining that somebody just hopping on stage and telling funny stories. I suppose if Hollywood hasn't figured it out, the chances I will are slim.
* Past Fringe success is an unreliable indicator of what this year's show will be like. The best expectations are no expectations.
* The techies are an unforgiving bunch. Says one in the beer garden. "There was this one show today and they asked me for chairs! Chairs! What do they think this is? Are they going to be asking me for costumes next?" Then she started talking about what techies would do if they ran the world. I expected it to sound like Fascism, but it was more about some kind of automated lighting system.
* Most obvious piece of dialogue today: "Life is so... alive."
* Thursday's best line: "Nobody likes the aging divorcee but everyone loves a widow."
* If there is a choice between a no-name act that seems to come from a place of passion and an act with a few "professionals" on its roster--references to L.A. or London in the program bios, for example--always take the amateurs. Big egos spell indifferent work ethic and you have to wonder: If you're doing so well in L.A., why are you in the Fringe?
* In a similar vein, I am often left wondering about what it takes to make something "entertaining." I've seen plays that have been workshopped, dramaturged, workshopped again, performed and directed by trained theatre professionals that have been vastly less entertaining that somebody just hopping on stage and telling funny stories. I suppose if Hollywood hasn't figured it out, the chances I will are slim.
* Past Fringe success is an unreliable indicator of what this year's show will be like. The best expectations are no expectations.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Fringe phrasing
I just had to share the best line I've heard so far in the Fringe, though I think its hilarity was inadvertent.
Gansta to his high-school-attending sister, while giving her drugs to retail (The sister happens to be prostituting her best friend): Let me pimp the bitch!
Sister: I'm not comfortable with that.
Eye Weekly's Fringe review site is here and my review of Lockdown is here.
Gansta to his high-school-attending sister, while giving her drugs to retail (The sister happens to be prostituting her best friend): Let me pimp the bitch!
Sister: I'm not comfortable with that.
Eye Weekly's Fringe review site is here and my review of Lockdown is here.
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