I don’t want be just another kevetcher on the Olympic bandwagon, but we’ve been given so much to work with.  At first, I wanted to do a short piece, Charlie and the Inukshuk Factory.  It was to be based on my recent landings at the Vancouver Airport, only to be overwhelmed by the plastic and wooden Native simulacrum, and carwash brush-esque flag bombardment (printed with tribal symbols).  After dodging the “bring your tired, your poor and your humbled travelers to the res” themed baggage claim area, I was going to rant on about the neglected state of the urban reserve on Hastings, and Vancouver’s attempt to cover up the needs of our First Nations people.  But that sounded so bitt

Sisters and Brothers...the words have been said for the past 8 days about Haiti....here are words from a dear friend of ours in Montreal, done while he was home in Haiti...send it around.  send the music...

Beloved ones, a full year has passed, much has happened.  We have lost loves and gained new ones.  I wish you all the very best and blessings...With radical love, we will gain more by our commitments to those in need, those who don't have the luxuries we have...even by being able to read a post on the Internet.  Thank you from the bottom of my soul for the love, support, and thoughts you have given to me and the kids this year.  We are ok....we are progressing....and we will continue.  Please continue to support our website and contribute to the blogs. 

Up front, I am not picking on Australians.  I actually consider that "heart" is in the right place at times with these annual apologies.  Liberals might say, that "at least' they are saying sorry.

The latest mea culpa from Prime Minister Rudd came involving the some 150,000 kids taken to Australia "for a better life."  Naturally, the life wasn't so great.

On the side of the good:  Rudd is at least trying...although they are all dead, nice to say you're sorry

I don't think I could have predicted that at the mainstream AMC Cinema in Montreal, on a given day, that three (count em), three documentaries are being shown.  Along with the new romantic comedy tripe, the blood and guts scream screens, and the trivial kid stuff, we are able to screen Taqwacore:  The Birth of Punk Islam, It Might Get Loud, and The September Issue.

If you meet anyone who denies knowing a thing about soaps on tv, I think they are lying.  Soaps are the middle class dirty little secret.  Soaps somehow engage the viewer in the best and worst of life.  But alas, I come not to praise the soap, but to expose it.  It is obvious that soaps reflect a notion of the middle/upper class in North American society...the repetitive themes of romance, death, quest, riches, poverty...these come honestly from the notion of plot in fiction.  What I find compelling, is that even in 2009, the dominant discourse makes no apology for existing...in fact, if you aren't in that discourse, you are not compensated for your marginalization, and with each piano riff, the non-belonging viewer is sentenced to more exi

Normally, not plussed by famous people, last night was definitely a high in life for me.  How terrific to go to see one of the most important women in the 20th century.  (I will now rant about the conditions....a broken down auditorium, one security guard, incompetent tech assistants, bad screens, no crowd control, and a 50 minute wait to have technical assistance, which never worked)...btw, it was sponsored as a Media series.  methinks McGill University needs to stick to medicine and stay out of media.

OK, now the discussion.

American media permeates the Western world...starting to do the same in Asia.  Just walking through airports, the images, the branding...naturally, Spain, for instance, champions many Spanish as well, but the movie stars, the Anglo influences are obvious.  I am always interested why a nation choses someone from somewhere else as an advertising ploy.  For instance, David Beckham is all over the billboards...it's not like Spain doesn't have great soccer players, and very hot ones at that.  What is it about whiteness? 

The swine flu is prevalent on the news....no on has it tho, but everyone is talking about it.

BBC rivals CNN as the Anglo-influenced news.  I would go with BBC for more accuracy, if we know what that is.

Our hearts are heavy to learn of the death of the lovely, brilliant, and energetic Augusto Boal, the father of The Theatre of the Oppressed.  A dear friend of Paulo's, Augusto was also a member of our own Scholar's Board.  Augusto was a tireless fighter for the disenfranchised and used th