Author: Peter

Representation

Here’s a meme-in-waiting, inspired by an email from a musician friend tonight: if you were to choose 12 songs from an artist’s or band’s back catalogue to release in an introductory collection, which songs would they be? I’m not necessarily talking about their “greatest hits” or even their most popular songs (although those can certainly appear); instead, I want a list that’s representative of the range and history of the artist or group. Naturally that means the person or group must have been performing for a while—let’s say they’ve released the equivalent of at least four albums—and it presumes the list author has somewhat more than a passing familiarity with the act. (Matt, here’s a chance to plug MEC! :))

To kick things off, here’s a (probably controversial) intro to Spirit of the West, a group that’s gone through many stylistic and personnel changes.

  • Rocks At Thieves’ Bay (from Spirit of the West)
  • Political (from Labour Day)
  • Not Just A Train (from Save This House)
  • (Putting Up With) The Joneses (from Save This House)
  • Ship Named Frank (from Go Figure)
  • Guildhall Witness (from Faithlift)
  • Christmas Eve (from Open Heart Symphony)
  • Frankfurt I’m Sorry (from Open Heart Symphony)
  • Canadian Skye (from Weights And Measures)
  • Our Ambassador (from Weights And Measures)
  • That’s Amore (from Hit Parade)
  • Enough, Already Alright (Hello Cleveland) (from Star Trails)

I’ve no idea if they even read this blog, but I’m going to tag a few folks nevertheless: Matt, katierin*, and Heather. And hey, if Anne, Ed, John or anyone else wants to chime in, there’s a comment form down there….

Here’s one for that special lady

Oh, so honey, let me help you with that suitcase
You ain’t gonna break my heart in two
‘Cause I’d rather get a hundred thousand paper cuts on my face
Than spend one more minute with you

…

I’d rather have my blood sucked out by leeches
Shove an icepick under a toenail or two
I’d rather clean all the bathrooms in Grand Central Station with my tongue
Than spend one more minute with you

Yes, I’d rather jump naked on a huge pile of thumbtacks
Or stick my nostrils together with crazy glue
I’d rather dive into a swimming pool filled with double-edged razor blades
Than spend one more minute with you

I’d rather rip my heart right out of my ribcage with my bare hands and then throw it on the floor and stomp on it ’til I die
Than spend one more minute with you

Candidates letter, update #1

The first status update on the letter is that almost a third of the candidates have made it difficult to get in touch. In decreasing order of difficulty, the problems are/were:

  1. As noted in the original post, Canadian Heritage Party candidates Carl Hiemstra and Lesley Bartley don’t have any contact information published yet.
  2. At the time of writing Conservative candidate Paul van Meerbergen didn’t have a website or email address listed. However, I was able to find an email address from his previous campaign for city council. (His listing on the CPC website has since been updated to add contact info.)
  3. Conservative candidate Mary Lou Ambrogio’s widely publicized general email address bounced, reporting “Unknown user”. (I was able to find an alternative address.)
  4. Email to Conservative candidate Joe Preston’s media liaison garnered a surprising auto-response, which noted that that person no longer works for his office. However, the message provided two additional contacts, neither of which had similar delivery issues.
  5. NDP candidate Steve Holmes doesn’t have an email address, just a contact form.

The ones who made it easy are:

  • Sue Barnes (Liberal)
  • Noel Burgon (Green)
  • Ryan Dolby (NDP)
  • Peter Ferguson (NDP)
  • Jacquie Gauthier (Liberal)
  • Mary Ann Hodge (Green)
  • Ed Holder (Conservative)
  • Monica Jarabek (Green)
  • Irene Mathyssen (NDP)
  • Daniel O’Neail (Green)
  • Glen Pearson (Liberal)
  • Suzanne van Bommel (Liberal)
  • Mike van Holst (independent)
  • Leonard Vanderhoeven (CHP)

Another letter to candidates

As I did in the 2005 campaign, I emailed a number of policy questions to the local candidates for federal office. There are two differences from last time: first, I emailed eighteen of the twenty candidates across the four local ridings, rather than just the four from my own riding. (The two that are missing haven’t published contact information.) The reason for that, and the second difference, is that this time they’re under the aegis of Theatre in London, and are related to the parties’ and candidates’ views on Canadian arts and culture, with a focus on London. It will be interesting to see if there’s a better response than last time.