"The more we take, the less we become a fortune of one that means less for some" ~ Sarah McLachlan

It's the start of the 41st election here in Canada and I am pissed off already.
I feel frustration at the lack of choice and a complete feeling of hopelessness. None of these political parties seems to be talking about what we really need. Electoral reform should be the jumping off point, affordable housing and affordable daycare need to be addressed now. Instead all I have seen are a bunch of old white guys trying to say the right thing and hit the right notes for the sound bite. It is atrocious.

And my fellow Canadians are going to vote (in record low numbers) for a government they think will protect them when they are rich...even though they are low to middle class right now. Stop that Canadians, just stop it.

Government should be there to make the tough decisions, the hard ones, like a parent who makes you eat your veggies and go to sleep at bedtime. None of us should be asked to vote on their popularity. Would you have voted for your Mother and Father if you had to elect new parents every time you disagreed with them or questioned why they were being so hard on you? Doubtful, you would have voted in new parents who made all sorts of promises. But we are not children and we need to recognize that the status quo is not working and election promises should reflect the state of our economy right now. This is not the time. It is time to get serious.

The process is broken. BROKEN. Would someone please run a campaign that will initiate actual changes? No, because they are all too afraid of losing "power".
So we will continue to suffer, our votes not counting, our government unwilling to change the very system it perpetuates. Power politics piss me off because I'm left feeling used and ignored.
And you know what? Nobody cares. None of my friends give a rat's ass about this election. They are just happy to think this is all there is or that they are helpless to change it. Apathy is apalling.

There is nothing at stake any more for voters because no matter who is in charge nothing is being done to improve the lives of low to middle class Canadians.
It is all such bullshit.

Song Du Jour:

Share Glasvegas - The World Is Yours

Share Glasvegas - The World Is Yours

"We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment" ~George Eliot

I've been house sitting/dog sitting for a friend whilst she traipses about Europe this month.
Meet Marleau, isn't she cute? She is such a sweet dog, but for some reason I keep calling her Kitty Cat...it just suits her. She cleans herself like a cat which, at 3 a.m., is a rude awakening. Lick, lick, lick...ugh. She eats her poop too and, if I'd let her, I think she would eat other dog's poop. Dogs are gross, hey?

I always say how much I want to get a dog but, as a sad realization this month, really I don't want the responsibility of being a pet owner. It's a shock to have realized this. I like other peoples dogs...mostly because the owners have to do the dirty work. I don't really enjoy going for a walk and having to manhandle the excrement of the pooch and carry it in a bag with me. But who does right?

The part I like is coming home to someone who is so excited to see you they pee a little on the floor. I just don't like having to wash the floor after all that excitement.

This got me thinking there is always a give and take in life, no matter what, like the universe is a teeter-totter that has bad and good at each end in perfect balance. Every time good goes up, wheeeeeeee....bad's weight brings it back down and vice versa.
Lately, I have been trying to weigh the good side in my favour....trying to upset that balance so that I can only reap the good. But it never works like that does it? Most of the time Bad just topples over the handle and Good gets launched skyward only to come crashing down hard on its arse.

"Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the Universe is endlessly bountiful.
Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you."
~ Mahatma Ghandhi

Ok, Mahatma, I am working on it.

Song Du Jour: Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People

What is it with songs with whistling in them? I seem to love them. Roger Whittaker would be so proud.

"...When there's all kinds of chaos and everyone is walking lame you don't even blink now do you or even look away..."

On Thursday night I was up late and was just about to go to bed when CNN started to show live images from an earthquake in Japan and I could not believe my eyes. Watching the destruction live on my TV was heart wrenching and I had a feeling of helplessness as I watched that tsunami crush and mangle peoples lives before my eyes. All I could think about were the families torn apart and was there anything I could do to help?

On Friday we were told via various news reports that this horrific crisis in Japan has a confirmed 1000 deaths and no, all seems to be alright out at the nuclear plant...Just a bit of a leak, but they are handling it. I thought to myself, a 1000 dead and no nuclear fall out, can that really be true? There is no way I thought. I mean did you see the destruction? How could there not be thousands more dead?

Then I felt really bad for thinking that because, although I am not hoping for high casualty numbers or some sort of nuclear fall out, I just don't think the news coming out of Japan is accurate and I immediately wondered if they are keeping the truth from us to mitigate the financial fall out. Probably.



Clearly, the TSX and Nikkei think the worst given their plunge this morning and this concerns me greatly. I know it will take months for Japanese authorities to confirm number of deaths, sheesh, it will probably take that long just to gain access to some of those washed out communities but given the level of destruction is there any one out there who thinks it will be less than 30,000 casualties claimed? Now with rolling black outs and supply channels cut off, how will the Japanese cope? It is hard to sit here and watch as this unfolds knowing there is nothing I can do to help (except give to the red cross and hope my donation actually makes it to someone in need). It's also hard to understand news reports that say there is no nuclear fall out when we've witnessed explosions at reactors, do they think we are morons? And already the insurance companies are calculating "losses" . This also pisses me off because calling these 'record" losses for the insurer seems redundant to me. They are INSURANCE companies!

I read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein and now I can see, even in these first brutal days after this tragedy, the vultures are descending. One of the first reports I heard after the news was a report about Canadian lumber and how timber companies shares spiked after the Japan quake. I acknowledge that this is reality. Finance and economy come first, got it, but that still doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

I hope the people of Japan are not taken advantage of while they are struggling to comprehend this tragedy but what do I do with the knowledge that there will be plenty of advantage taken?
I supposed it bothers me that in our world the people who look at this situation, who rub their hands together gleefully and think ooohhh...how can we make a buck, will not be held accountable or even be criticized. Post-Earthquake Reconstruction will be big business and that seems to already be the focus.

Song Du Jour: When I Look at The World by U2

"I can’t speak the sounds that show no pain..."

What's your favourite Bob Dylan Song?

Tomorrow is a Long Time is mine and our Song Du Jour. Perhaps because it breaks my heart when I hear it, or how it resonates longing for a love that is lost in such a profound way. I imagine Bob, unable to sleep, his heart broken, pouring out his emotions into this song in the dead of night. It is also the way he sings it, the way he pauses, "then I'd lie.....in my beeeeed.....once again."

This song is like a lullaby in its sound, I love the delicate guitar in it, but its lyrics....I really have to say that out of melody, rhythm and lyrics I think lyrics are the most important part of a song to me.

HOLY shit...I never knew Elvis sang this song. Sorry, tangent here....but I was just looking for it on You Tube to provide you, dear reader, with a link and there is Elvis, crooning away. huh.



Seems it has been covered by lots of artists...I did not know that either.
Hm...nope, after listening to Elvis' much more country sounding version I still find the original Dylan version much more touching and emotional. He sings with such sweet melancholy in his voice and for me that is missing from those other recordings:



This song would be great on a soundtrack.

As an aside: I would love to be the person who picks out music for movies...not score a movie, I have no musical talent, nope, but I could be the "Zach Braff" of Garden State, you know --compile the songs for movies. I feel I would be excellent at this...or maybe I have just watched too many John Hughes films and I think it would be easy. Sometimes when I hear a song I can create a scene from a movie in my head that could feature that song. I do that a lot actually. Or I can pull from my own experiences a moment that would fit with a perfect song. How many times have you sat in a theatre watching a movie and a song swells during a scene and you think I could have picked a better song for that moment?
Or maybe I should just write my own movies just so I can make soundtracks....

"A good mix tape to put you in the right mood...."

Yesterday was the 24th Anniversary of the release of U2's Joshua Tree Album (JT) so it made me all nostalgic and I started thinking about where I was 24 years ago and how I listened to music back then compared to how I listen now. Those were my formative years, you know, the ages of 11-14 when you start to form your preferences for music, and I relied heavily on other people to make me mixed tapes. This started with my adoptive family at home because I was now living with real teenagers for the first time. This influenced me more than I realized at the time and I am thankful they both had such good taste in music.

Your older brother making you a mixed tape is a bit of a repetitive notion amongst music fans and for me it was where it all started too. My first mixed tapes had Depeche Mode, Bauhaus, U2 and plenty of punk rock on them.

I got my first Sony Walkman for my birthday at age 11 and I LOVED that walkman. Later in high school I listened to that every day on my walk to and from school (Rattle and Hum was worn out on that Walkman). It was always in my school bag with a selection of tapes clattering around. There is the first big difference from then to now. Now I don't have to carry around a device to play my music AND my music on various tapes. I bet even the thought of that would seem hilarious to any 11-14 year old in 2011 with access to a MP3 player. Rewinding, Fast forwarding, taking out the tape, putting it back in its case, taking out another cassette and winding (with your pinky finger or a pen) up the wayward spools of tape which sometimes spilled out. It seems hilarious now, but back then it was just the way it was -- and better than albums, for sure. Believe it or not a school bag filled with tapes was a "convenience" at that stage.

I was always driven by the single and wanted to hear as much music as I could and that is still true today. I ached for an easier way to get more music and in a way I could manipulate the music so I could put it in the order I chose. I had a lot of mixed tapes, even ones I made off the radio. I used to know where all my music was on those tapes too. I knew which songs were on the b-side of the cassette so I could cut down on the rewinding and fast forwarding. For some reason rewinding took more battery power than fast forwarding so sometimes you pulled the tape out and flipped it over and hit FF to get to the song you wanted. Now, I pull out my ole iPod or my blackberry, cue it and play. Not to sound like an old codger but it has to be said...Do the kids really know how great they have it these days?

I could never really afford to buy music so I only owned records or cassettes of what was given to me or made for me. (I never owned the JT cassette, actually I only finally bought a copy (CD) when it came out remastered 2 decades later) I only had JT on a mixed tape --made for me in the late summer of 1987 --by my friend Leighanne's brother, Todd. Looking back on it Todd was my first MP3 dealer. He was my Napster. And really isn't the mixed tape just the old version of MP3 sharing?

Todd didn't just take JT and copy it onto the cassette for me. No, instead he had also purchased most of the singles that had been released to that point too; the With or Without You single and the Where The Streets Have No Name single. Single cassettes were available but more difficult to find however, the want for the single (and for the b-sides) was already huge amongst music fans, or at least in the fans I knew had a penchant for them. It was record companies who at this pivotal moment in music history were already scaling back the single in hopes we would all buy the album so they could make more money off us. But back in '87 Todd bought all the singles too, God love him, so my mixed tape of JT also included songs that I thought for a long time were on the original album. The Streets single had a wee song called Sweetest Thing on it. My friend Leighanne and I loved this song. When we found out we were a bit ahead of the curve and nobody else knew about this gem, Sweetest Thing became our secret song. The one song so few others knew about in a time when U2 was every where. (oh and years later when U2 actually released Sweetest Thing I turned my music snob nose up at it and still think the original is far superior, but that is love speaking there for sure, I just loved the b-side so much because it had more meaning to me)

I listened to that JT mixed tape during a time of great personal crisis. I was a rebellious teen of 15 and my adoptive Father found caring for me too difficult, plus all my Mother's life insurance was spent, so long story short --I was out on my ass. The sense of loss I felt was something I pushed down deep into my heart, I can see that now, and it was music that allowed me to feel, allowed me to grieve the loss and start to overcome the adversity I was faced with. Running to Stand Still (RTSS) was a song I instantly connected to on that mixed tape. I didn't know why U2 wrote it or what the 7 towers were or any of the meaning behind it then, no, all I knew was how it connected to me. I was learning some tough life lessons and the lyrics resonated with me. In my first wee apartment, there were many nights when I needed some solace and I would play that tape over and over...."And so she woke up, woke up from where she was, lying still, saying I gotta do something about where we're going...." "I only see one way out....you got to cry with out weeping, talk without speaking, scream without raising your voice..."

One night I accidentally hit record in the dark instead of play....which is the worst feeling in the world...and it was only a second blip--on the second whine of Edge's guitar on the intro to RTSS-- but because I listened to it that way it stuck there forever in my mind. Even to this day when I listen to RTSS I still hear that wee pop at that part of the song in my head. It just became part of the song for me. Looking back I never really considered all of these things the way I do now or really thought much on how much the mixed tape influenced my life. I wonder if Todd knew how much his mixed tapes meant to me? I should thank him.

Song Du Jour: Professor Booty by Beastie Boys

"Wipe your tears away..."

Feb 11, 2011. What a day this has been!

The Military Council in Egypt dissolved the Parliament and the government today. A dictatorship has fallen and Tahrir Square becomes a place of hope again. I found out via Twitter. Actually, over the last 2 years of being on Twitter, I get the majority of my news from the micro blogging site. I think what I like the most about it is hearing from people who are not paid to be there, unlike the media who seem to always get it wrong, or make the story about the media. Instead on twitter you get to wade through a mix of personal reports, emotional outbursts with twitpics and educated blogger's tweets.

This morning on Twitter I followed some fellow U2 fans around a special tour of the FNB stadium in Johannesburg prior to the big gig there coming up on Sunday. I saw pictures from the other side of the world instantaneously. It gave me a thrill. It's the 21st anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela today...I imagine the concert on Sunday will be very emotional and uplifting, as always, and I bet Willie Williams will have prepared something special (and spectacular) for the fans at FNB Sunday night. What will their performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday bring us? I can't wait to see videos from my fellow fans via YouTube.

Being so connected on the Internet is a double edged sword for me; it allows me to connect to places around the globe in a way I never thought possible but it also shows you exactly what you are missing. I would never give it up but, you have to get really good at stopping the thoughts of wishing to be everywhere your heart desires, it could drive you mad.

Then there are the places where life is becoming more difficult for people. Places like southern Sudan.....These events seem so much closer to us if you care to read about them I guess. Hundreds of people are dead because all they want is freedom. It weighs heavy on my mind and my heart breaks for the children and parents who have lost their loved ones, who will wipe their tears today? Can they find the strength to continue their fight? Today the news is filled with splendid hope and horrific despair, as usual, but the juxtaposition of these events remind me to be grateful to live in Canada (...although secretly I wish I was in South Africa, shhhh...).

Song Du Jour: The End By Kings of Leon

"It's never gonna be enough, I just wanna be there when your all alone, thinking about a better day...."

"I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside..."

I went into a meeting to talk about my pending vacation requests and while we were talking the radio was playing lightly in the background in my bosses office. All of a sudden I hear the opening bars of Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 start. I can't believe my ears. The fact that I am taking time off to go see U2 and their (arguably) best live song comes on the radio at that moment is like the universe saying, there you go...all that worry for nothing!

I knew at that moment my request would be approved and by the time Bono sang "when I go there I go there with you it's allllll I can do..." my vacation request have been approved!

I love my life.

*108 more sleeps*

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” ~ Mark Twain

I am in a travel prepping mode with 3 trips to plan this summer and I've just submitted my official 2011 request for vacation. Now I have to wait. Wait until my request is approved and the waiting is pretty much killing me. So to be proactive I have been a keener looking up websites, trying to establish where I will need to be, how I will get there...wondering what is nearby, is this the best hotel? I just had the foolish thought that it would just be so much easier if I could just travel there before the concert to check it out. Then I rolled my eyes at myself.

I will admit I am just a bit over-the-top excited about my trips this summer...I could use the word elated...but that just does not sum it up...more like ridiculous. I am excited to get on planes, see new places I have wanted to visit my whole life, meet new people, see old friends, visit new friends, wring some adventure out of life...oh and see U2.

Now I find great things in all these amazing cities and have to stop myself from booking them and just WAIT.
I do not possess the virtue of patience.

*taps pen*
*waits*

Song Du Jour: Boy by Ra Ra Riot

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without" ~ Ernest Hemingway

Well Hello 2011.

I am hoping for more blue skies this year and not in some fanciful figurative way, no, just literal and mundane weather talk here. Currently my city is blanketed in snow piles so high it feels surreal like we are on a movie set. It sure looks like a winter wonderland and I keep getting caught up in its beauty and have to smile and give a little sigh. Today for about 15 minutes the sun came out from behind the grey, it washed over the stark and cold landscape and cheered the place up! When I walk around my neighbourhood I find the sight of the drooping trees, branches laden with heaping white mounds, very beautiful. It's like everything is frozen in some beautiful postcard except I have to drive to work in it every day and carry on like the city is not limping along with only one lane open.

Of course, there are more important things to discuss than the weather; like Tunisia or Sudan where politics and freedom (and nation building) are at war. I am riveted to the events in those countries and struck by the way 2011 has already started with a brash notion of hope. For those who dare to hope I wish you plenty of blue skies too!

Song Du Jour: Do You Love Me - Guster