A few weeks ago I wrote about a contest that CBC Radio 2 was putting on to come up with a play list of songs for Barak Obama. They announced the winners last week and presumably an MP3 player with the 49 tunes is on its way to the President.
The final list is an interesting mix, even if "I Lost My Baby" didn't make the cut:
Affairs of the Heart – Marian Mozetich
American Woman – The Guess Who
Barber: Violin Concerto – James Ehnes
Bobcaygeon – The Tragically Hip
Bost Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
Brother (Watching) – Shad
Canada’s Really Big – Arrogant Worms
The Canadian Dream - Sam Roberts
Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Gordon Lightfoot
A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
Closer to the Heart – Rush
Dégénération - Mes Aïeux
Democracy - Leonard Cohen
Departure Bay - Diana Krall
Évangéline - Marie-Jo Thério
Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia
Goin' Up a Yonder - Measha Brueggergosman
Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
Hallelujah - k.d. lang
Helpless- Neil Young
The Hockey Song - Stompin' Tom Connors
Home - Michael Bublé
Hymn to Freedom - Oscar Peterson Trio
If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
J'ai quitté mon île - Daniel Lavoie
Jolie Louise - Daniel Lanois
La complainte du phoque en Alaska - Beau Dommage
Mario Takes a Walk - Jesse Cook
Mon pays - Gilles Vigneault
Montréal -40C – Malajube
Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers
One Great City! - The Weakerthans
Ordinary Day - Great Big Sea
Oublie-pas - Karkwa
Place St. Henri (from Canadiana Suite) - Oscar Peterson Trio
Pour un instant – Harmonium
Quand les hommes vivront d'amour - Raymond Lévesque
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Rêver mieux - Daniel Bélanger
Rise Again - The Rankin Family
Rise Up - Parachute Club
Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Moe Koffman
Universal Soldier - Buffy Sainte-Marie
We'll Gather Lilacs - Ben Heppner
Wheat Kings - The Tragically Hip
Wondering Where the Lions Are - Bruce Cockburn
To be honest, there are a lot of songs that wouldn't make it on my list. Come to think of it, that sounds like a good idea for a future post. I think I'll take the next couple of days to come up with my own play list of 49 songs from north of the 49th. In the meantime, check out some of the songs on the "official" list.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Great Right-Wing Media Elite Conspiracy of '09
I am getting tired of the consistent right-wing stance of the Canadian media. Everyone -- including that bastion of left-wing liberalism, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation -- seems to be taking the side of York University in the strike which has gone on for three months.
You don't believe me? Consider this -- the media outlets have not been afraid to inform the public that the CUPE union members rejected the University's offer of a 10.7% increase over three years. Nor have they been loath to report that the union is holding out for a 15.8% increase over two years. Taken together, these statements make the union seem pretty darned greedy.
Obviously, the right-wing media elite has conspired to keep the public unaware of all the additional work and value-added services that the union must be offering to justify their expectations. After all, they couldn't possibly expect a raise of 15.8% to provide the same levels of work, could they?
You don't believe me? Consider this -- the media outlets have not been afraid to inform the public that the CUPE union members rejected the University's offer of a 10.7% increase over three years. Nor have they been loath to report that the union is holding out for a 15.8% increase over two years. Taken together, these statements make the union seem pretty darned greedy.
Obviously, the right-wing media elite has conspired to keep the public unaware of all the additional work and value-added services that the union must be offering to justify their expectations. After all, they couldn't possibly expect a raise of 15.8% to provide the same levels of work, could they?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A Day Which Will Live in History
Today, Barak Hussein Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States. Over a million people gathered in Washington to see the historic event, and hundreds of millions more throughout the world watched the event on television, viewed it on streaming video over the Internet, or listened to it on the radio.
Some were drawn by the fact that Obama is the first black man elected to the highest office in America. Others were drawn to his message of hope and transformation. Still others were relieved and gladdened b the fact that George W. Bush's reign has finally ended (and I use that verb on purpose, since GWB is a proponent of the "imperial" presidency theory).
Personally, I did not watch the event. I had work to do and I knew that the airwaves would be filled with the recap this evening. I suppose I am also a bit more neutral towards Obama than many other Canadians. On the one hand, I appreciate his message and I fervently hope that he is able to move the United States in the direction outlined in his speeches and envisioned in the Constitution. On the other hand, I think people, especially people in other countries, may be disappointed.
People have compared Barak Obama to both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Lincoln truly was a great man, perhaps the only man who could have held the Union together at the time of the Civil War. He was also the President who suspended Habeas Corpus and the man who signed the Homestead Act, which opened up the West to widespread settlement by whites, thus ending the independence of the native societies of the Great Plains. Similarly, Kennedy was a strong defender of the post-war American "empire" who authorized attempted or actual military action and/or regime change in Cuba, South-East Asian, and, ironically enough, Iraq.
I guess my point is that as inclusive and as transformative as Barak Obama appears to be, he is still the head of an imperial power. Whether the rest of the world likes it or not, he will have to act in the best interests of his nation, which is the United States of America and not Canada, Kenya, members of the European Community, or any other entity.
I like the United States. As irritating and as arrogant as its self-anointed vision of itself as the "city on the hill" that inspires the world, I would rather live in a world where the United States of America aspires to be a model of a just society than a world where the United States is just another cynical power that bullies weaker nations and ignores international law.
Some were drawn by the fact that Obama is the first black man elected to the highest office in America. Others were drawn to his message of hope and transformation. Still others were relieved and gladdened b the fact that George W. Bush's reign has finally ended (and I use that verb on purpose, since GWB is a proponent of the "imperial" presidency theory).
Personally, I did not watch the event. I had work to do and I knew that the airwaves would be filled with the recap this evening. I suppose I am also a bit more neutral towards Obama than many other Canadians. On the one hand, I appreciate his message and I fervently hope that he is able to move the United States in the direction outlined in his speeches and envisioned in the Constitution. On the other hand, I think people, especially people in other countries, may be disappointed.
People have compared Barak Obama to both Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Lincoln truly was a great man, perhaps the only man who could have held the Union together at the time of the Civil War. He was also the President who suspended Habeas Corpus and the man who signed the Homestead Act, which opened up the West to widespread settlement by whites, thus ending the independence of the native societies of the Great Plains. Similarly, Kennedy was a strong defender of the post-war American "empire" who authorized attempted or actual military action and/or regime change in Cuba, South-East Asian, and, ironically enough, Iraq.
I guess my point is that as inclusive and as transformative as Barak Obama appears to be, he is still the head of an imperial power. Whether the rest of the world likes it or not, he will have to act in the best interests of his nation, which is the United States of America and not Canada, Kenya, members of the European Community, or any other entity.
I like the United States. As irritating and as arrogant as its self-anointed vision of itself as the "city on the hill" that inspires the world, I would rather live in a world where the United States of America aspires to be a model of a just society than a world where the United States is just another cynical power that bullies weaker nations and ignores international law.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I Should Be Writing
Or reading a book.
Or cooking a nice meal.
Or going for a walk in the snow.
I should be doing anything but surfing the internet.
Or cooking a nice meal.
Or going for a walk in the snow.
I should be doing anything but surfing the internet.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Another Electrion for Obama
CBC2 is running an interesting contest this month linking Canadian musical culture and incoming US president and noted music fan Barack Obama. The idea is for listeners to select the "top 49" songs that define us from north of the 49th parallel.
The first week of the contest, which ended this past Friday, was a general call for suggestions. In the second phase, which starts tomorrow and runs until this Friday, listeners will get to vote from the short list of 100 songs that was drawn from all the suggestions. Presumably, the final 49 will be loaded onto an MP3 player to be presented to the new president when he visits Canada.
Some of the local talk radio shows are having fun mocking the contest, but I rather like the premise. I know I am biased, being a Canadian and a fan of Canadian music, but I think the contest is an interesting examination of how we define ourselves through music and I'm looking forward to seeing the short list tomorrow.
And in a matter of shameless self-promotion, if you happen to check out the short list and see "I Lost My Baby" by Jean LeLoup, please vote for it. That's the song I suggested and I'd love to see it on Obama's play list.
The first week of the contest, which ended this past Friday, was a general call for suggestions. In the second phase, which starts tomorrow and runs until this Friday, listeners will get to vote from the short list of 100 songs that was drawn from all the suggestions. Presumably, the final 49 will be loaded onto an MP3 player to be presented to the new president when he visits Canada.
Some of the local talk radio shows are having fun mocking the contest, but I rather like the premise. I know I am biased, being a Canadian and a fan of Canadian music, but I think the contest is an interesting examination of how we define ourselves through music and I'm looking forward to seeing the short list tomorrow.
And in a matter of shameless self-promotion, if you happen to check out the short list and see "I Lost My Baby" by Jean LeLoup, please vote for it. That's the song I suggested and I'd love to see it on Obama's play list.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
The More Things Change ...
We are now a few of days into the new year and so far we have seen:
- another conflict between Israel and the Palestinians
- another Muslim-on-Muslim suicide bombing in Iraq
- another earthquake causing tsunamis in Asia
- another attempt at solving the labour dispute between York University and striking instructors
- another murder in Toronto
- and talk of another Bush making a run for the White House
I was kinda hoping things would be better in 2009.
Friday, January 02, 2009
Book Keeping 2008
I am an inveterate archivist. I like to keep lists. You might even say that I have a need to keep lists. Among the lists I keep is a record of every book I have read since 2002.
It has become an annual ritual, to be completed on the first day of the new year, for me to total the books I have read over the course of the previous year. The total for 2008 was 102 books completed. 14 of these books were works of fiction, 18 were business books, and the rest were non-fiction, mostly works of history.
The 2008 list is down over past years. It was 41 fewer books than I read in 2007, although to be fair I must point out that 2007 was a sabbatical year for me. In 2006, I read 124 books; in 2005, a mere 106; in 2004, 140. And since I have started my list, let me at 124 books read in 2003 and 116 completed in 2002.
Certainly some of the books that I read last year stand out, but these are the ones I would particularly recommend:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole was my favourite fictional read of 2008, even though the book was several decades old. I still make references to Ignatius Reilly, the main character.
Gentlemen's Blood - A History of Duelling From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk by Barbara Holland provided more information concerning affairs of honour than I had ever thought possible. The strange attractiveness of the topic is illustrated by the fact that I loaned this book out to three people in 2008.
Hitler's Jewish Soldiers - The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military by Bryan Mark Rigg is a look at a previously neglected bit of World War II history -- Germans with Jewish parents or grandparents who served the Reich in the armed forces. If Rigg's research is correct, over 100,000 members of the Nazi armed forces had Jewish parents or grandparents, including several generals and one field marshal.
Corporate Cults - The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization by Dave Arnott was the most thought-provoking business book I read in 2008. Or perhaps I should refer to it as the "anti-business" book, given its warning cry against subordinating one's identity to that of the corporation.
And last, but not least, my Can-Con selection for 2008: Bloody Falls of the Coppermine - Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913 by McKay Jenkies. I found the book to be a fascinating look at a sad chapter in the history of the Canadian North.
It has become an annual ritual, to be completed on the first day of the new year, for me to total the books I have read over the course of the previous year. The total for 2008 was 102 books completed. 14 of these books were works of fiction, 18 were business books, and the rest were non-fiction, mostly works of history.
The 2008 list is down over past years. It was 41 fewer books than I read in 2007, although to be fair I must point out that 2007 was a sabbatical year for me. In 2006, I read 124 books; in 2005, a mere 106; in 2004, 140. And since I have started my list, let me at 124 books read in 2003 and 116 completed in 2002.
Certainly some of the books that I read last year stand out, but these are the ones I would particularly recommend:
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole was my favourite fictional read of 2008, even though the book was several decades old. I still make references to Ignatius Reilly, the main character.
Gentlemen's Blood - A History of Duelling From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk by Barbara Holland provided more information concerning affairs of honour than I had ever thought possible. The strange attractiveness of the topic is illustrated by the fact that I loaned this book out to three people in 2008.
Hitler's Jewish Soldiers - The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military by Bryan Mark Rigg is a look at a previously neglected bit of World War II history -- Germans with Jewish parents or grandparents who served the Reich in the armed forces. If Rigg's research is correct, over 100,000 members of the Nazi armed forces had Jewish parents or grandparents, including several generals and one field marshal.
Corporate Cults - The Insidious Lure of the All-Consuming Organization by Dave Arnott was the most thought-provoking business book I read in 2008. Or perhaps I should refer to it as the "anti-business" book, given its warning cry against subordinating one's identity to that of the corporation.
And last, but not least, my Can-Con selection for 2008: Bloody Falls of the Coppermine - Madness, Murder, and the Collision of Cultures in the Arctic, 1913 by McKay Jenkies. I found the book to be a fascinating look at a sad chapter in the history of the Canadian North.
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