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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Toronto Life online has an article by Robert Fulford about blogs. Once he gets through the seemingly mandatory intro phase (blog is short for Weblog) including quotation marks around words like “blogosphere” and (heh) “posts”, he gets into some interesting detail on bloggers with extra-internet writing cred.
[Terry] Teachout writes books, magazine articles and drama reviews for The Wall Street Journal, but he also adores his blog; it provides “immediacy, informality and independence that you can’t find in the print media.” Although he’s paid for his theatre criticism, he tells us for free about every concert or dance performance he attends, apparently every record he hears and even what deadlines he’s in danger of missing.They also have a side feature here of local bloggers (including yours truly) picking their favourite other local bloggers.
These full-time professionals have turned themselves into part-time amateurs, in the root definition of “amateur”: someone who acts out of love. Because it’s so economically independent, blogging encourages freewheeling individualism, which has affected mainstream journalism. In Foreign Policy, an influential American journal, two scholars recently noted that “What began as a hobby is evolving into a new medium that is changing the landscape for journalists and policy-makers alike.”
This is the passport that the Governor General carries. (no, really!)
I'm enough of a nerd to have watched the swearing in ceremony on Monday. The GG holds this symbolic role as Head of State so that we can freely show our contempt for our elected officials (as they deserve). This sentiment is truly non-partisan, as they are all sleazy, stupid and self-serving. (It just usually goes without saying.)
I could have done that GG job. (Shit.) I'm good at making chit-chat with the military. (And was I the only one who noticed that Batiste, the billy goat mascot for the Vandoos (Royal 22nd Regiment), was heavily sedated?)
"L'histoire veut qu'en 1884, un couple des ancêtres de Batisse fut donné en cadeau à la Reine Victoria par le Shah de Perse. Ces bêtes étaient originaires du Tibet et leur présence faisait l'orgueil des habitants du pays. La Reine Victoria accepta ce cadeau et ordonna que le bouc devienne la mascotte de son Régiment. De ce jour, fut créé le troupeau royal qui prit logis au jardin zoologique de Londres. Le troupeau y est encore et on dit que ces boucs et ces chèvres sont les derniers survivants de cette race. Nos boucs régimentaires sont les descendants directs de ce troupeau."
Thank you thank you to L.M. for her gr-8 guest blogging! The good news is she's agreed to keep it up, so we'll both be posting for awhile.
I've been so engrossed in work that there's a bunch of things I neglected to write about. The following is a quick list, off the top of my head:
Angela Leach! Angela Leach! Her work is so pretty I just had to steal this jpeg from the Wynick Tuck website. Leach's amazing painting stole the show at the already pretty cool exhibition Dimensionality, that Andy Patton curated for YYZ. Exhibition is on until Oct. 22.
The interminable CBC lockout. Is the damn station ever coming back on the air or what? I can't even decide if I care.... I have always liked the idea of the CBC more than the real CBC. Nonetheless, I'm pretty sure I still want Canadian public radio and TV, even if it mostly sucks! Does anybody else care (other than the employees of course, for whom I have great sympathy)? What gives?
Gene Threndyle and friends (so sorry I didn't catch everyone's name) singing in exchange for dollars at the Queen West Art Crawl. They had a modified roulette wheel for selecting songs. If your spin ended up on "Brit Pop" the one guy (Mark?) with a voice as deep as L.Cohen would do a kickass Britney Spears number for you (my favourite).
Michael Maranda's sweet conceptual art show at Akau: a bound set of the great works of philosophy, true to length, but only the punctuation with spaces where the words had been removed. Exhibition is on until Oct.15.
John Porter's new website! www.super8porter.ca
Brock Silversides' kitsch-fix exhibition of vinyl dance album covers at the Media Commons, Robarts Library (2nd floor). Exhibition is on until Nov. 1st.
Our show in Sudbury looks great! Rebecca Diederichs and Gordon Hicks made art that blew me away, our curator, Corinna Ghaznavi, put it all together beatifully, and the director, Celeste Scopiletes, was amazing. There was a really good turn out for the opening/performance and people were engaged and talkative afterwards. Von Bark brought the keyboard and played a perfect plinking sound sculpture accompaniement to the lecture. And Lara Bradley wrote a really good article about the show in the Sudbury Star (one of the best reviews of my work ever). Yay Sudbury! I am really thrilled with the show (also thrilled I don't have to work on it anymore for awhile), and I'm very glad it is going on next year to Directore/Curator Jan Allen at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston.
 | Von Bark says: Sudbury is a city where giant rocks grow out of the sides of your hotel room. This is but one reason to visit Sudbury. |
Geopolitically speaking, we are considered enchanting and as cute as buttons. (If anyone should ask, this would be the most central and forceful argument in this blog) That said, everyone loves our passports. (but this may be more of a curse)
An interesting story on passport abuse was done on CTV's W-Five about allegations of a passport fraud ring within the Canadian High Commission in Hong Kong that operated in the 90's, prior to the British hand-over to main land China. (I recall that the Canadian business community were peeing their pants in excited anticipation of all that investment money that would arrive here.)
But even more fascinating events occurred in 1997, when Mossad agents, carrying Canadian passports, were arrested in Jordan for the attempted assassination of a Hammas leader named Khaled Mashall.
Canadian officials quickly claimed that the passports were forgeries, but Norman Spector, a former Canadian ambassador to Israel, AND chief of staff to former (Yay! Former!) Prime Minister Brian Mulroney made the claim that Canadian secret services routinely dangled passports to other security services. Basically we ain't got much when its time to trade info with the other services, so here, take a few passports, and by the way, would you happen to know what the U.S. is bidding on that grain sale to the Ukraine?
Be reassured that an official signal of our displeasure over this event was proposed and perhaps even delivered.
I also googled for images of everyone else and their passports, but this is all I found for you.
How dare he not want my passport.
I get the Strategic Forcasting Intelligence Report, (for just ten Rambo bucks a year) so I can pepper my conversation with terms like standard analysis, non-rational calculations and intrinsic geopolitical weight. Their writing style flatters the reader, and I am strongly in favour of being flattered for reading. (writing well is too difficult, so I don't bother)
"Stratfor clients consistently receive the advance warning they need to be prepared, identify challenges to their operations and manage strategic risks. When others are paralyzed by the overload of fragmented news coverage, political bias and loss of perspective, Stratfor’s readers are able to focus ahead and understand the real geopolitical and economic impact of world events – for making their most important decisions every day."
I shit you not. It works for me. I get premium insights.
What's up with this crazy Danish dog?
"Här har "Freddie" hunnit bli 6 månader gammal."
Screen shot from "English", an on-going video project
Covert Entry covers most of the bases for CSIS misbehaviour, including illegal surveillance through their access to Canada Post (and the agency has been very helpful with Telus and their labour problems!)
This book also includes the sort of info I love to know: CSIS agents hang out at the Timothy's coffee shop on Front Street near their Toronto headquarters, but they really, really love the Starbucks on the corner of Queen & John. As do I.
I am not sure if they also love Pages Books & Magazines, located near their fave Starbucks, but I have it on very good authority that if they do shop at Pages, they most certainly DO NOT have a special discount card for preferred customers!
I also came upon a site from a company called C.S.I.S. that I assume is their gift store.
...and this little well dressed doggy can also be found at CSIS.
CSIS was formed to spy domestically, but with the government oversight that the RCMP lacked. (yup, that sure made a difference) But, bless their little hearts, they meant well. And until September 11, to most of us (those who didn't belong to a trade union, left wing political party, anti-globalization organization etc.), they still had an endearing image as lovable bumblers, leaving government issued laptops in their cars, only to be stolen from the parked vehicle while they were watching a hockey game at Maple Leaf Gardens.
Could happen to anyone. You remove your wet footwear at the door and before you know it, someone's stolen your shoe phone.
From an especially hard hitting November 16, 1999 Hansard debate on this theft:
Mr. Jim Abbott (Kootenay-Columbia, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, we know that top secret documents were stolen from a CSIS operative. In the minister's own words, he received a report from CSIS immediately.
I remind him that section 20, paragraph 2 of the CSIS act says specifically that the minister in turn must send the report with his comments to the Attorney General of Canada and SIRC. He did not do this. Why did the minister break the law?
The Speaker: I ask members to be very judicious in their choice of words.
Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, when I was informed by the director of CSIS, he also informed me that the inspector general was conducting an investigation, CSIS was conducting an investigation, and the process was proceeding as it should proceed.
Mr. Jim Abbott (Kootenay-Columbia, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, I will read section 20(2) to the solicitor general again. It says that the minister in turn must send the report with his comments to the Attorney General of Canada and to the Security Intelligence Review Committee.
He did not do that. He received a report from CSIS. He did not send the report to the Security Intelligence Review Committee. Is that not a breaking of this statute?
Hon. Lawrence MacAulay (Solicitor General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, as I indicated to my hon. colleague, the director of CSIS verbally indicated to me what happened and at the same time he indicated to me that the inspector general of CSIS was conducting an investigation and that CSIS was conducting an investigation"
And a Jolly time was had by all.
I found the above exchange on Jim Abbott's web site after some random googles on the subject. He seems to be actually proud of this.
On CSIS from the very perky Facts Canada site:
"Most nations are concerned with both their internal and external security affairs. Canada is no exception. Since 1984 our country has been placing its security affairs in the hands of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service or, as it is commonly called, CSIS. CSIS was formed to handle these affairs in order that a dedicated group be awarded the mandate previously held by a branch of the RCMP. The RCMP, with a lot on its own plate, was found ill equipped to deal with national security concerns."
That would be the adorable way of saying that the MacDonald Commission of Inquiry into Certain Acts of the RCMP (and I don't make up all these expressions, my American friends) found that the RCMP's security branch were a bit too busy illegally infiltrating political parties, labour unions, and compiling security intelligence dossiers on tens of thousands of Canadian citizens.
Do You have what it takes to be a spy?
From an fluff article on CSIS:
"What does it take to become part of the intriguing world of Canadian
surveillance and intelligence?
"An interest in international affairs, a fascination with what an intelligence organization does: the mystery behind it, the secrecy that surrounds it,"
says Dan Lambert, media liaison officer for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)."
I'm interested in all that shit! Pick me! Pick me! I also have it on good authority (crap that I make up, all by myself, all the time) that Sally and her so-called neutrino community are developing a device that causes neutrinos to report back on everything they travel through.
And for a more in-depth report on this, all I'll need, right now, is an Amphibious Hydra Spider
But not in yellow. Indigo or black would be way more stealthy. (it really should be a hybrid too).
...and an iPod.
That should be it. Thank you.
Cold War - (submarine detail from installation) John Dickson 2003
First of all, anyone who was at my house last week for tea in the garden can stop reading now, since I am just going to repeat all that stuff I told you about the Kursk. (I saw your eyes glaze over, you know who you are)
While I was gluing fighter plane models together in front of the TV, I watched a French documentary called The Kursk: A Submarine in Troubled Waters.(I meant to start posting about this earlier, but I got carried away on line reading missile discussion boards, and then watched Das Boot for the 11th time.)
I love submarine week on Discovery. I digress.
As you know, the Kursk was a Russian submarine that sunk under mysterious circumstances while on a routine military exercise in the Barents Sea in August, 2000, killing 118 crewmen.
This particular routine military exercise was apparently very much about smart shopping. The Russians were demonstrating the latest model of the Shkval torpedo, and if you couldn't be bothered with that nerdy link, the technology for this torpedo is based on Supercavitation! Yay! (an equally nerdy link), basically, its a super fast torpedo (five times the speed of anything Nato had at the time) with a reported range of 60 miles. Now in researching the Shkval, I found a lot of discussion from weapons experts who doubt the claims that were made about the technology, the Russians did have earlier versions on the market, (you can even go to international arms shows ...well, maybe not me or you, dear reader) and at the time (mid 90's) the Americans weren't buying into the sales pitch.
Now to 2000, the speculation is that U.S. intelligence got wind that the Russians had developed a Shkval with greater range & velocity plus a homing capacity. A few months prior to the Kursk sinking, the FSB (formerly KGB) arrested an American businessman, (who was also a former naval intelligence officer) for attempting to purchase the designs for the new improved Shkval VA-111 from one of the scientists who had worked on it. (so maybe it worked after all.)
Anyway, the film claims that the Kursk was armed with this new improved weapon (for this routine exercise) and the prospective buyers were the Chinese. It also claims that the manoeuvres were being closely observed by two U.S. attack subs, a British sub and a surface spy ship from the US with a sensitive sonar grid, Nato? and a Norwegian spy ship. (but from the reading I have done that's standard, everyone spies on everyone else, carry on, nothing to see here) So onto the doc's conspiracy theory, and I like it, the two US subs: the Toledo and the Memphis are shadowing the Kursk, maybe they play chicken, (and I must say that if Sally and I were driving nuclear subs, we would be just like Chip 'n Dale: "Excuse me!", "Oh please, after you!", "Oh no, I must insist, after you!") but sadly, common courtesy is so rare, and the Toledo accidentally collides with the Kursk, the Kursk opens the torpedo tubes, and then the Memphis, in order to protect the now damaged Toledo, launches am MK48 torpedo at the Kursk. (though you'd think there'd be some kind of chain of command thing going on before a US sub attacked a Russian sub.) (Monica: dirty blue dress!) (I'm sorry that's a cheap shot, but this narrative needs a honey trap, zany submariner antics were not enough.)
The good questions that the doc poses are:
"Why did it take 30 hours to find the Kursk, when it could be seen from the surface?? (the water was 108m deep, the ship was 160m long) .
Why were the sailors of the Kursk, who may well have known the truth, not rescued when all indications are that a successful rescue was possible? .
Why did the Russian government declare a nuclear emergency, prompting its air force to take the air, if it had no reason to suspect a possible foreign aggression? .
Why did the CIA director, G. Tenet, go personally and secretly to Moscow 3 days later? .
Why did Putin and Clinton hold numerous telephone conversations during the week following the accident.? .
Why was a large Russian debt cancelled, a new loan granted, and Clinton decided to stop the anti-missile shield project?"
But the most bizarre question (or claim) is why did Canada buy a bunch of Shkval VA-111's shortly after this kafuffle? Potential punch lines in the comments thread.
The Trouble With Oscillation Website...
...is now online. I floated a first draft here a while ago and received great feedback. Thanks so much to all y'all Digital Media Tree dudes for your advice and comments (especially Mark, and Jimb).
Blog notes: okay, okay this blog has turned into my personal promotion page in recent weeks. I apologize, but I've been working like mad on this project, so that's what you're seeing here.
The good news: rumour has it that guest blogger L.M. is gearing up for another stint on this page. I have inside info about her topic choice and it's juice-eeeeee.
In the meantime, if you are looking for sassy Toronto art writing, read Artfag.
In the off chance that anyone is interested, I just realised that Daniel C. Dennet's controversial article, "Quining Qualia" is available here online.
Neutrinos They Are Very Small, the physics show I'm in with Rebecca Diederichs and Gordon Hicks, is opening this month (Sept. 22) at the Art Gallery of Sudbury. The new Trouble With Oscillation website will be launching in about a week. I'm also doing a performance lecture in Sudbury (details here).
It has recently been sinking in for me (thanks to L.M., Heather Mallick and Judy Rebick) that the Canadian government has been holding people (5 people) in dentention, for years, without laying charges. Hassan Almrei has been in solitary confinement since 2001. The others are Mahmoud Jaballah, held since August 2001; Mohammad Mahjoub, held since June 2000; Mohamed Harkat, held since December 2002; and Adil Charkaoui, held since May 2003 and released on fourth bail application in February, 2005 (info from this page at HNB). Here's what Heather Mallick suggests we can do about it:
Canada's newfound cowardice exhausts me. What can I achieve beyond asking readers to go to Homes Not Bombs and write to three despicable politicians, Ontario's Monte Kwinter, minister of safety and jails, and the two MPs in charge of secret trials, Anne McLellan and Joe Volpe. Readers should call Mr. McGuinty's office and speak up for Tennyson Quance. As for the fact that any one of us might be under flight arrest thanks to the cowardice of the feds, all I can say is vote NDP everywhere every time.And here are those addresses:
Monte Kwinter
Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
18th floor, 25 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, ON, M7A 1Y6
Reception: 416-325-0408
mkwinter.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
Anne Mclellan
Minister's Office
Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
340 Laurier Avenue W.
Sir Wilfred Laurier Building, 13th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P8, Canada
McLellan.A@parl.gc.ca
Joe Volpe
Room 658, Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Phone: (613) 992-6361
volpej@parl.gc.ca
Dalton McGuinty
Premier
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1
dalton.mcguinty@premier.gov.on.ca
There is an excellent letter about New Orleans in today's Globe and Mail by Judy Rebick, publisher of rabble.ca and long time activist. (An aside: unfortunately the Globe locks up their letters page online with a cute little red key icon
meaning that you have to pay to read it. Fair enough, I guess, newspapers gotta make a buck just like everybody else, but you'd think maybe the letters to the editor could be free). Anyhow, Rebick points out that a key factor in the "societal breakdown" in New Orleans, is the steady dismantling of the social safety net that started under Regan in the 1980s, and had continued every since. Instead of spending tax dollars on welfare and unemployment insurance, we pay for police. This is Canada's problem too. As Rebick says, "Cuts to social services and infrastructure to fund tax reductions and security services lead to a breakdown in a sense of community and caring for each other. In good times that breakdown is suffered by the poor while the rest of us look away." 
How does it get to be called "looting" when you are wading through a flood to an abandoned grocery store to get food and non-oil-soaked beverages to keep yourself and your family/friends/neighbours alive? Says Bush in his zero tolerance against so called crime in the disaster zone speech, "If they want food and water, we'll get them food and water." Uh, okay...when?