Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

I must say I was apprehensive when I picked this book up from the library. I was not sure about the brand of humor hidden within it's pages. In cases where I am doubtful, I usually trust my gut.

This has turned into a great library pick-up by all accounts. I was in a vague mood. Both depressed and disillusioned. This book drew me in with the mystery and magic it dished out in equal measure, both  inflicted like a ripple that spread through me and burst forth flood fresh, with the insight that it brought me of the fictional Anishnawbe community, Otter Lake community.

Maggie is the Chief who is unhappy in her current position, and Virgil her juvenile delinquent son unhappy with school. Lillian the recently departed grandmother heralds the arrival of John of the ever changing surnames.

It marks subtly and with humor the fallacies that reservations face in the education of their children, the fast fading culture of Native Indian language as presented by Virgil's lack of understanding of the Anishnawbe language. His human apprehensions of John, are of someone who might take his mother away from him.

I love the initiation of John in the novel, his arrival on the big Red Indian Chief Motorcycle.

He is given the nuance of a mystery man, he rides into the story, rumbles in and draws together the caricature of an entity half man, half devil, half playful, half destructive, and lingers in that green space between myth and reality.

Is he a Nanabush a Trickster, out to wreck mischief in their lives.

As Virgil sees it he needs help, this stranger unsettles him, he looks for help from an even stranger character than John, his uncle Maggie's brother, and grandmother Lillian's favorite offspring Wayne. This is someone I could easily relate to Wayne, he was someone I would love to be at this juncture in my life, someone on an island by himself, learning, and understanding the truths of this life.

There is a sentence in the book where Wayne wishes that he should have attend his mother's funeral, but consoles himself knowing that his public presence would have been more to satisfy the public comfort of society, than to balm his own personal grief.

In the midst and discreetly interwined in this novel is a 300 acre piece of land, that is to be handed over to the Otter Lake community, the legal documentation is to be handled by Maggies department which annoys her no end, it marks the arrival of the racoons, and brings into the story the craziness of an old man whose profound knowledge of Anishnawbe causes him to speak it with iambic pentameter of Shakespeare, laced with a touch of a dark past.

This excerpt on Drew Hayden Taylor the wonderful author is taken from the PEI Writers Guild.

'Drew Hayden Taylor  is an Ojibway from the Curve Lake First Nations, Ontario. He has worn many hats in his career, including comedian, playwright, journalist, fiction writer, television scriptwriter, and documentary film maker Throughout his prolific career and international travels, he has tried to educate and inform the world about issues that reflect, celebrate, and interfere in the lives of Canada’s First Nations.  He is now an internationally renowned author and playwright with 23 books and over 80 theatre productions to his name. This contemporary storyteller’s down-to-earth tone and humor-infused tales educate listeners and celebrate Canada’s First Nations peoples.'

Please do read this wonderful novel if only for an infusion of the love of humor and a tiny glimpse of the wonderful myths and magic than encompasses First Nation tradition.

Steve Jobs- Whatever I say would be cliche today

A sad epiphany is in reality nothing but a late realization. A comprehension that dawns, like a slowly awakening morn, makes you realize that the sky is a gorgeous shade of orange-blue or that you really miss the splendor of last night’s brilliant moon.

This was the emoticon that jarred me awake to the passing of Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011). It highlighted the epiphany; they are but comets, these entities who relay through life, these entities who burst chest first through the finish line. We do not remember their individual accomplishments. We remember them as a whole, as the person who blazed through life, and that special being who tore that long mile apart.

Steve Jobs-The presence and image of Steve Jobs, as someone mentioned recently seemed acutely accessible attire-wise, not one with the CEO's of the world, not dressed to impress, Steve impressed without recourse to the 'Expensive Brand Tag Suited Profile'. There should be a line of clothes based off his attire that needs to be branded or unbranded as 'The Simple CEO'. A touch of clothing that includes him in the 99 percent, measures him well up against the obscene cheques of well clad adventurists, who we protest against in the Wall Streets of the world. He was a man who motivated innovation, courted tenacity and professed a deep love for the company and it’s products. Everything is about money these days I am sure it might have been the case with Steve he was a businessman after all but for him it was so much more than that. He churned out product that his company represented. Built up worldwide an image of a half bitten fruit, turned the click wheels of improvement on what was already created.  The master marketeer,  he charmed his audience a group that had no demographics, no race, no gender into a world market gave it a definition and then set about to conquer. This was a quote on work by the man himself. "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."– Stanford commencement speech 2005

Now plain idol worship is always biased you tend to be caught between your imagination of a perfect world homage; but this image this homage is different from what the customer, the person on the street, the employee, the shareholder may maintain of the same person. I do not know if all things aside the article below holds weight but like I say every penny has two sides even if it's a lost one. Read and make your own judgement.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidcoursey/2011/10/12/steve-jobs-was-a-jerk-you-shouldnt-be/?feed=rss_home

On the flip side below is the unofficial website of a fan that lists Steve's biography, it is a well-researched website, and if I attempted to replicate this information it would be a waste of time, an unnecessary duplication which I do not believe in.

Thank you Steve for bringing the music, the movies, the books, applications, information and innovation a byte closer to us.

You will be missed.

Ides of March

The Ides of March  is a wonderful political movie. I am not a political layman, only a layman aware of the web politico that is spun intricately over our lives. A web that intersperses myriad political decisions with hydro generation, taxes to be levied,  transit rides and ETR's, jobs to be created, marriages  registered or annulled. This movie makes you realise that even though politics is such a dirty game, in eventuality it leaves us the normal layman either better or worse off. We may shout and scream, watch in quiet acceptance, live and die, or blame family, religion, schooling. society, education, marriage and even death. The truth is in some way or form it sands us down coarse and blatant rather than subtle, policies and decisions affect us poorly or richly.

All these scrapbook aspects of life are afflicted by distinct political manoeuvres for lobbies, for votes, for presidency even.

Ides of March. I looked this up on Wikipedia 'is the name of the 15th of March in the Roman Calendar, probably referring to the day of the full moon. The word Ides comes from the Latin word "Idus" and means "half division" especially in relation to a month.

In modern times, the term Ides of March is best known as the date that Julius Caesar was killed in 44 B.C. Julius Caesar was stabbed (23 times) to death in the Roman Senate by a group of conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The group included 60 other co-conspirators according to Plutarch.'

The Movie an ointment of talent, lists all my favourites as vital ingredients George Clooney, Ryan Gosling. Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Evan Rachel Wood and Marisa Tomei.

George Clooney plays Mike Morris an idealistic candidate vying for the Democratic primary in a presidential election. This tidbit is based only on my poor dewdrop thin knowledge of politics. It is inversely proportionate to how I interpret the varied political terms that are  knitted together in the movie. Mike Morris is backed by two campaign advisers Ryan Gosling plays Stephen Myers the newer kid on the block with the brains in place to define a campaign path and a subtle moral boost for the Governor. He is an aid to the Senior Adviser Paul Zara played brilliantly by the ever so versatile Philip Seymour Hoffman. The movie locks and unlocks many cupboards, the proverbial skeletons keep tumbling out revealing only stab wounds deep within bent back-bones. The sleazy side of party politics is displayed in a very much behind the scenes, fencing between Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Tom Duffy the opposing side's campaign manager (played by another favorite Paul Giamatti). George Clooney plays the candidate, who backs an ethically and morally strong campaign leadership, fighting for what he believes in but with secrets that could unravel, and upchuck his leadership. Stephen has already made a political boo-boo, he has me with Tom Duffy. This leads to a lot of internal and external political cat and mouse encounters.We do not come to realise who the cat is, or who the mouse, till the end game and we wonder if the mouse hole will only get bigger. A big black hole that will swallow constituencies whole. We watch as human delusions of ethics and morality are de-based in the sleazy world of party politics. We watch as a house of cards keeps getting knocked down and built, on a brand new set of moral codes re-defined for that particular  moment of political one man-ship.

We watch Stephen's character morph into a political butterfly or me thinks a moth drawn toward a bleak politically lit career. We watch as he flutters at a light constantly, poises in the moment that captures him brilliantly, yet shadows all those who flutter around his phoenix flight. We are left to impress whether everything is real or an illusion of the self.

George Clooney directed, co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay (the movie is based off the play Farragut North by Beau Willimon) and this being his fourth directorial attempt (after Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Good Night, and Good Luck and Leatherheads). This reminds me of the brilliant movie so amazing in it's subtlety and the rich definition of it characters which was Good Night, and Good Luck.

This is my synopsis, draw a conclusion on your own, but it is definitely a movie worth the time, if only for the glorious casting and the marvellous direction.

When the going gets tough, the elders get together

I notice that as we of the coolly labeled Generation X, complain about bills, bones  budget deficits both domestic and international, balding scalps and bulging waistlines  a group of charismatic elders (I discovered them during my many online travels) work together to blend  an organization into a powerful mix. This organization offers 'their collective influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity'. They work on issues as diverse and globally sprinkled as the Middle East Peace situation, Child Marriage, Cote d'Ivoire, resolution on the conflict between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, Inter-Korean relations and peace in Sudan and Zimbabwe.

Stoic, calm and compassionate this organization helps bring peace, resolution and positive change to the world. At a time when the Zoomers are slowly losing strength these Elders seem to be acquiring the power of renewed muscle and determination. Hats off to you fine Ladies and Gentlemen.

Please review the list below which contains the names of all the Elders of the group. You  may or may not recognize these names, I would still suggest that you click on the link at the bottom of the list and review the website. 

You may choose to follow or be informed on the accomplishments of the organizations and it's initiatives therein.

The Elders are:

Martti Ahtisaari  

Kofi Annan

Ela Bhatt

Lakhdar Brahimi

Gro Brundtland

Fernando H Cardoso

Desmond Tutu

Jimmy Carter

Graça Machel
Honorary Elders

Aung San Suu Kyi

Nelson Mandela

http://theelders.org/home

You may or may not be a long way away from a time where you would need to be worried about balding and bulging, but we all in time will get there, at some point of time we will reach that point where all our ailing issues will need to be addressed. And I hope that when we do reach that stage we stand and  choose as the Elders have, rather than come unraveled on pant sizes and hair loss both of which are serious afflictions.
I hope we will take a stand and make the world a better place for the immediate present and the future. But for now we could support the Elders cause or at the least be aware of an organization that works for good. We so often hear of the misrepresentation of such organizations, there are numerous examples of charity organizations which preach a world of change and empowerment of the weak but end up lining their own fat wallets and padding their bank accounts. These may well be the proverbial 'wolf in lamb's clothing'. Bonus Cheques and Expenses does not the man or woman make much less an Elder.

 

Mary Robinson

First online poem publication this rocks.

My only claim to fame. Today I am humbled by the fact that there are dedicated and kind persons who do not think Creativity needs to be boxed in or reduced by the ever shrinking lines of snobbery and exclusivity . I know that I can write maybe only moderately well and I will continue to do so as long as this finger can tap out words. But before I ramble on and on I must thank World Poetry for giving me maybe the only opportunity I may have to see my work on-line. It is an exquisite feeling World Poetry Featured Poet from Canada.... thrilling. Catch it today 01.10.2011 before it makes way for the next featured poet. Running on a browser near you but only for a Limited Performance. Love to all especially those who have visited, read and commented or not.

You rule.

But here I go again

http://worldpoetry.ca/?m=201110

Of Pennies (and any other lowest denomination world currency) and such.

It's been raining a lot in Brampton especially over the last couple of days. I wonder if it's the rain that's been washing all these pennies out. Washed out left to wriggle, lie still sprawled across footpaths this fall.  Over the last couple of days I have seen an unusual number of pennies .

I saw three yesterday. All in different locations. A couple lay entwined on pavements. One even lay fashionably poised next to a debit machine. I wonder why someone would need to keep their penny right next to the Swipe machine, especially when they are going to end up paying by debit/credit anyway. I was offered a penny by someone at my gym sorry, health club (we penny pincher's need to appear classy you see). This person, he found the penny in his locker, initially I refused to take this offering, but then he said it would bring him luck if he gave it. I was his penny leprechaun. So I took it, saw another penny on the ground in the men's washroom and left the lucky one for someone else to find, but I did so with some reverence and a little flourish in order to give the lucky penny it's due. We are in the middle of a recession folks, the economy is taking a giant dump, and people are shedding pennies like the fat dripping off a shawarma rotisserie.

I for one one do not pick up lost pennies, I do not lose them if I do I believe that there was a reason for me to do so, an involuntary and unnecessary reason but a reason nevertheless. In any case I do not pick someone else's lost pennies. I do believe that someone who needs them more than me, will find them at the right time.

But for all of you who shed them without cause remember that there are many who share a definite need for them. Here are some tips for you, you know who you are- thoughtless penny shedders.

http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2007/06/23/101568_83-things-you-can-do-with-a-penny.html

Save or donate, maybe even tip responsibly. Do not waste. Please.
Further to this post, a picture was taken by yours truly on o1.10.2011 sometime around 8:30 am. Another penny soldier lost to the battle the loss of worth and value, help win the war on the  pennies economic demise.
Save or donate, maybe even tip responsibly. Do not waste. Please.
Photo is courtesy of moi and a trusty  cellphone camera it's old, falling to pieces yet remains faithful, tried and true. The setting is a windy bus stand, carpeted thinly with fall's fallen leaves.

Speak now or forever hold your peace or not.

Internet cafes, queues, theatres, concerts, public transit, gyms. These are the fortunate places, where some people choose to express themselves freely. It is in these places of quiet, that they choose to be loud. Loud enough that others may hear. Loud enough to be rude, loud enough to not care. Loud enough to divulge their morbid day details in sequence. Loud enough to reveal them as exciting, loud enough to detail the re-invention of the wheel, loud enough to reveal secrets and resuscitate month old gossip, loud enough to divulge inane international or domestic news verbatim, loud enough to inform us of their bedroom secrets, their teenage angst, their latest pop, rap, rock  diva's juvenile delinquency, their extreme libido or partner's/friends lack thereof. They crave to let us know that they are informed of what little is out there. Enough to let us know they are aware, that they are not alone and scared in this big bad world.

I believe that people who talk loudly in public places excluding of course duly appointed public expression locations such as environmental pro-green protests, Global summits, Football and Hockey stadiums, sports bars have nothing to say or very little runs through their little minds. They have not been paid the equal of my annual salary to express themselves for these brief loud moments as exuberant public/motivational speakers, they are not fighting to uphold a major right (eg. the right to party), they are not here proclaiming the discovery of a new theory or of a mutated life form on the quickly aging bristle of their toothbrush.

They are just fearful of being unheard, of being belittled, of being lost to this life. They choose to raise the ante, to raise their voice, to talk louder. If this were not the case they would talk within the confines of their homes, over the phone, hiss softly if expressing themselves in public, I have actually seen that happen. People do carry whole conversations in whispered tones on the bus and that too over their cellphones with nary an ill disturbed eardrum within that confined space.
I do feel sorry for loud talkers/vocal exhibitionists but ever so little. It annoys me, loud public conversation.

They would if they were not insecure, have talked within a reasonable tone here. Here in these most public of places they would have been considerate.

Choose to say whatever it is that pleases you, but mind us quiet gnomes, carrying out our minuscule lives, quiet as worker ants; we run about in such quiet disquietude . We may not wish to hear the ritual of your lives, even if you do choose to disclose it megaphone style. But do be careful. Someday it may be that pitch in your throat, that pushes the cro-magnon ape sitting next to you, over the edge.
And then things, thing may really get loud.
Peace.

Fate and Faith. Welcome to the Fête.

There are times when cloistered reason leaves us shipwrecked on some distant shore. There are times when the cleansing precipitation of rationale is replaced by the humid warmth of time and the closeted cold sweat of fear. Before I delve into what singles me out in thought these days I would like to declare that over the years I have seasoned into an agnostic, I seem to have been marked this way all my life but have only recently come out of the 'believer' closet .

I would never denounce any one's beliefs this is not me, people should be left in life to follow and question their own choices and beliefs. Decide which way to progress, of late this path that I have chosen in my typical Gemini stance holds me indecisive. I remain the straddler on the long highway to nowhere. I have only recently figured that plainly I am just along for the ride but the person driving (highly metaphorical this sentence, I don't drive) is ME.
More than the presence of God, I question luck, fate, faith and superstition. As the world around us crumbles we are left wondering, questioning, wondering, why me? Why me out of Seven Billion people why me. Questions that we cannot answer. There is always that elusive reason REALITY that escapes us.

We are left staring at frost on a window, frost that disappears, only to unveil on the other side of a plate of glass a world of fun things, of happy lives, of fortune and fame, while the side we are left standing on is stained and dirty, finger printed, and anointed by breath ours and that of those before us all unsatisfied.

Why is it that we believe others are more fortunate, that someone has influenced our lives with bad or evil, that we have been marked by the heavens to suffer. I do not believe that the Neanderthals woke from their cold cave induced slumbers and worried that they were the ones allocated the short drawn straws. All they craved was primal - food, shelter, a mate, and possibly a portrait of themselves drawn in all their glory on some cave wall, crudely caricatured, but nevertheless who wouldn't want a Neandrathant on their cave wall.

As needs sub-divided and sub-divided further, it opened up a world of choice, and values for these needs assigned themselves dollar signs. These dollar signs marched to an exponential beat, further and further, from that frozen in place decimal place. It dawned on us that things seemed to be more and more out of our reach. This was the moment when that one thing, that one thing that one of our distant ancestors desired; it could have been a place by the fire, a ravishing mate that he/she could not possess, it could have been a twig, a parking spot for his pet brontosaurus, it could have been anything that he/she wanted but could not get. It was in that moment that jealousy, greed and belief were birthed as triplets. One fostered the other and it rose to a basic unreasoning that eventually there was someone or something that drove things away, something or someone that locked us in a stagnant place, while others less deserving traveled the world, had their own talk shows, won lotteries, secured that cherished office. But we, we tributed their achievement, we set up their pedestal, their character success, and it only made us crave their success even more. It is us that discovers, what it is that is missing from our lives, it is us that assumes that the other has it and we must possess it. We birth our own failings, name them, then figure out that someone else has better children. Blame it on the genetic waterdown. It is us that wants what another has, it is this same greed that feeds our jealousy and our fears equally. I have been at that unhappy place and I have been I must say very unhappy. I have been there, I have returned over and over. I have believed that it has been an easier road for others luckier than myself. But today I know that it was all me. I am the singular reason that I am still unhappy, largely unfulfilled. I still walk a very thin line between being content and I would be a hypocrite  if I did not say that at times I still feel that I have been shortchanged in life. But today I attribute this more to myself than the curves on my palm, the stars that I was born under, the crooked tongue of another, the black eye of one, and the religious affiliations and sacrifices that need to be offered.
I fear now most of all that had I continued down that path I would have atrophied. I would have succumbed to a rigor mortis that would have left me powerless, with the will to do nothing, with the energy to do nothing to change my life. I would have rested under the illusion that fate, faith, luck and superstition would have manipulated the strings for me, I was but a feeble puppet that was powerless under their direction. Today, my belief is that if we know that someone, somewhere continues to turn things bad for us, why do we not choose to believe that there is someone rooting for us in equal measure, wishing us well be it a stranger or a friend. There is always someone who has their eye on us, out of seven billion people and the internet. Come on people. Believe that there is always someone wishing well, if you think believe that there is someone wishing bad upon you. 
And my reasoning today is that neither will and can affect you.
It is simple. The only good,  the only bad, is within us. None but ourselves can turn on one, and reduce the flow of the other, we are the only ones that can set things just right. But for that we need to know what temperature suits us best, what comforts us, not what seems to please others or what seems right for others. Only becoming informed, can we set that point as a standard for ourselves and work towards it. We need to refuse to believe that another person can do that to and for us.
I am the reason for my actions, my truths, my reason for living. I can only blame myself or pat myself on the back. I, and only I, can take the actions needed to change my life positively. This is my  anonymous club with the membership of one and I need to move forward unshackle these chains of false reason, of fear, of derivative hope that bind and confuse me. I need to move towards a sunrise that is rationale driven. I need to take the reins and ride into the sunset (superbly cliched by moi I must say), at my discretion, not in a movie directed by another.
Watch closely for a sequel coming to a theatre near you.

World Weary- The company of Strangers and Friends

2011. We are smack dab in the early part of the 21'st century. Already eleven years into it and days have been falling of calendars since January 1, 2001 we are galloping into the 22nd century full tilt, and will ring it in come December 31, 2100. 

The 21st century like any young adult would declare, has brought about it's own share of acne, pimples and the burn of aftershave. Oh yes that first real shave that comes with barely surfacing maturity and the first after burn. We have seen the flare up for democracy in Sudan, Egypt, Libya. Even some of the liberal Middle Eastern Countries have seen situations of unrest. As the world is teetering on the brink of a global recession unemployment levels are reaching historical highs, there is a growing force of lower, middle and upper middle class struggling to make ends meet in all regions of the world and they are standing up and questioning and looking for answers. Be it Asia -India and China have both had resounding concerns with corruption. Be it Anna Hazare's fast for anti-corruption and the introduction of accountability at all levels of government in India, or the derailment of the high speed train in China which led to graft related enquiries. Both of these anti-corruption efforts were driven by well educated, middle class people. In the Northern African region and the Persian Gulf Countries widespread unrest occurred amongst the younger middle and upper middle class. The Arab Spring revolution that began in Tunisia spread so fast through social media and coursed through Egypt, Libya, Yemen,Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman along with a number of the more liberal Middle Eastern Countries. Some of the causes that led to these uprising have been the tense political climate, the autocratic regimes, corruption and the unemployment in large numbers of an educated young populace. This unrest led to the ouster of Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia and the resignation of 30 year Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak. The Lehman financial downturn rippled outward from the United States and besides a persistent itch like recession it caused a widespread fear among investors all over the world to stay the hand that feeds unto Public debt. The Euro Zone is faced with a second round of bail out funds for Greece, while having already bailed out Ireland, Spain and Portugal. The International Monetary Fund initially provided a €110 billion loan for Greece, based on the acceptance of various austerity measures This was followed by a €85 billion rescue package for Ireland in November,and a €78 billion bail-out for Portugal in May 2011. This is all part and parcel of growth. It is painful but needs to be done. I believe that if this were not resolved and further austerity measures imposed by the country's government it would have lead to widespread unemployment, banks would refuse to lend funds to businesses, smaller businesses would then close up shop, and taxes and governments would falter eventually. This would have led to a downward spiral which would have dragged the Euro Zone and the rest of the world into another round of belt tightening. It would have been a vicious cycle which would have resembled the spiral ripples around a fast draining sinkhole.

This is a simple synopsis of a big problem.

The world realises it, though weary from a Natural disasters, global epidemics and economic fed bout of diarrhea, the world does know that it might have lost some electrolytes along the way but it knows maybe worse for the wear it can be replenished, it will come through, it will survive. As I see it even if we are back to one, we are left with exactly the same number of players/countries, our population is growing, and we are building ourselves into a more educated, more connected world community that will prevail through sheer force of will and comprehension of issues that matter. We all want to attend the party, the geek, the lover, the drunk, we all want to get through college but dad and mom eventually foot the bills for our generation, or we may even live to ride the wave of massive student loans. But in the end we live and learn; some do succumb but with the company of Strangers and Friends who help most of us do find ourselves when we are lost and confused.

This is what I would like to draw your attention to the media dooms and glooms everything, it is necessary that they not sugar coat everything but they also need to focus on what would happen if things were worse. Even though Egypt is on the mend and even though it pulses under temporary military rule, even though unemployment remains high the country's first free and open elections are still scheduled for November. This is a start. The Libyan struggle continues and the rebels seem to be winning. This is a start for democracy Muammar Ghaddafi ruled for over 40 years (40, even saying it sounds old, I know I feel it in my bones too) it might just be time for a change of scene. The Euro Zone crisis has five of the World's Central Banks the European Central Bank, the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan and the Swiss National Bank ready with a plan to pump funds into large European Banks and provide them with ample access to US dollars in order to prevent a clog up of much required funds in the traps set by institutional fear. If this does not happen it could lead to a disastrous economic meltdown for a large portion of the world. North America is picking up again even though the U.S has been downgraded it is still a powerhouse, its political, financial ramifications are still a vital pulse to gauge the world's health. Canada is recovering too, it will take a while to get up to speed, but we need to focus on the getting up not what threw us down, not the kick that unsettled us, but the waking up. We need to move, else the economy will spread into a lethargic rigor mortis that will damage us greatly. The BRIC - Brazil, Russia, India and China seem to be the way to go with an average 9% growth rate in GDP and a 9-10% inflation rate they seem to bring a balance into the equation as the rest of the developed world struggles at approximately 3% growth rate. The BRIC has low levels of Debt to GDP ratios India at 55.90%, Brazil at 66.8%,China at 19.1% and Russia at 11.1%, while developed countries like the US are at 92.7%, Canada at 81.7%, Europe averaging at the low 80% and Japan at 225.9%. There was a time when I was younger that the Indian currency, would not be listed at Foreign Exchange centres due to the volatility of the Rupee but today it rests a beacon of stability along with the rest of the BRIC.

We all grow up sometime or the other and it is at these times that we can offer our company to the ones who need it most, maybe as strangers. Maybe as friends. Generation Y, the Millennial Generation, Generation Next, Net Generation, Echo Boomers need us now at our 21st to stand and deliver.

Customer Service- Dead in the Water or Stone like indifference

Customer service works on a two way sound system. The system breaks down and customer service etiquette ends up with as much importance as a paper napkin in a three course dinner where the stomach's been growling like Cujo on speed. This break down in the customer service system usually occurs when the ear on or at the other end is only interested in the tired silence of a flat-lined conversation. This generally heralds the defeat of consumerism. I can count two inane instances with the customer service department of a credit card company, yes off course THE credit card company, and two instances with a utility company (actually multiply that number by each separate utility company that provided services and we will arrive at the actual number). Now five out of five people would say that they have been there and done that in terms of these phone calls. It is plain knowledge that credit card companies, phone companies, utility companies, Health Clubs and any other monopolistic organization, seat mini ambassadors of their self proclaimed fiefdoms, to fend off irate, rebelling customers spoiling for a noble fight. We continue to be the guilty ones whether proven or otherwise. And we pay for it out of our fading funds invariably.

An example I can offer without going too much into detail is when in a sudden attempt at being over responsible I chose to pay my credit card balance earlier than regular and used my bank machine. This so called dispenser and receiver of funds is part of the same company which facilitates my credit card and my regular account. Now unfortunately my old card with a zero balance I must emphasize this as it will hold its weight later, was canceled and the balance and payments transferred to my new card. All within the same card service run by the same bank, whose ATM I used.

The machine swallowed up my money and said that it had transferred the payment to the only card on account the old card. Now it is the responsibility of the bank which gave me the old and new card to be diligent and wipe out the old card from ATM transactions. But it was not so. In an attempt to be proactive to a further extent I spent 45 minutes which passed very slowly, and left me getting more and more irate having had to deal with 3 employees from the Debit (Banks end) and 3 from the Credit Card division. The initial credit card division said that there was no link between the cards, then transferred me to the debit card division which said that it could see the balance but it was the right of the credit card company to transfer MY MONEY (sorry I believe they clearly referred the money I had transferred to the Credit Card as the Credit Card company’s money even though it would take in their words two whole days for it to be transferred into the Old Credit Card balance Processing time they called it) Confused, imagine my numbness when I was told all this over a phone by some person with a lower percentage of a conscience than me. It was unbelievable, I could have had a more productive conversation with an over-ripe fruit. There is no reason that was being accepted here. The end result would be that they would credit my bank account, only if the credit card company allowed it no matter if the old card held a zero balance. By the  time all this transpired the amount pre-paid by me as an act of responsibility, would be past due and I would be charged interest on. All this for being proactive and making an early payment.

But the light at the end of the tunnel yes there is a light and it is most definitely a very narrow beam. The next day I shamelessly spoke to a pleasant young man from the Bank side who said that someone had messed up, they could cancel the transfer, and a nice lady from the Credit Card division who said that yes money could be transferred from the Old Credit card to the New Credit Card without any issues. It turned out that the Old and New Card were invariably linked just like the Neanderthal is to us. This kind lady had found the link without no more than one profound second of digging. And yet I had been subjected to forty five minutes, and six different people including a manager who enquired into every minute detail (including the clover leaf sign on my left buttock) I don't actually have one for health reasons. But in spite of my request for common sense not one would raise a voice or the levels of their brain function to actually resolve my issue.

My prognosis of this ailment is this the government should open up the market to Low interest credit cards, low cost service providers for Utilities and to all those monopolistic regimes that have left a festering scab on the consumers mind. They should provide subsidies to those new-age companies that will provide open ended offers and customer service that will befit a customer. There are a lot of small print legalities that the current companies bind us in and we constantly have to fight for the right to move, to pay our bills, to be offered a rate that is within the reason and does not involve us leaving Grandpa Joe's Tractor as collateral What I propose does not mean no profits only a lower profit and maybe a minute 0.0000001 percentage less on the CEO's heavy bonus cheque.

All said and done we need to up the ante. We need to ask for proper representation of our rights as customers, because we do the same thing everyday in whatever role we occupy in life and we do perform our functions and roles well. We are all customer service representatives fathers, sons, mothers and daughters in life and otherwise. We run on faith, trust and honesty so should the corporate world -without exceptions.

Terry Fallis- The Best Laid Plans

I do not follow politics ever. I do not bench press political views and feed on party politics at breakfast or for that matter at any given point of time in my day. Rest assured I will at no time in the present or future morph into a political news afficiando . But this, this book drew me into it like a succubus or like steroids would an overzealous ape-like bodybuilder.  I could nae, have put it aside even if it concealed the weight of a twenty five pound dumb-bell within its pages. It does in no way exercise your biceps or any other ligament rested within your arms. At 313 pages give or take a few, it is as light as a two pounder. It does for a large part, work on the belly through the many chuckles it induces, incrementally increasing the ha-ha factor per page, it is constantly cleaning up the smile on your face and building the petite muscles of your belly sans the abdominal crunches.

Daniel Addison the main protagonist, is a speech writer for the opposition party (Liberal Party), due to an excessive zeal for political leadership on the part of his stunning girlfriend and the strategic positioning of a rubber plant (I reveal nothing) he leaves hurt and decides to change careers to teach. But fortunately for us he continues to be locked into the party, and is entrusted with the task of finding and helping run the political candidature for the Liberal Party in Cumberland-Prescott a Tory stronghold.  Cumberland-Prescott  is where he meets my favorite character in the book, Angus Mclintock  who in a well arranged quid pro-quo moment, agrees to run as a candidate in return for literary favours, (again I reveal naught) Angus considers the favours signed in blood by Daniel, will more than make up for his unwanted inclusion in the election process. Angus Mclintock reminds me of a close friend. The straight forward, practical, devil may care Scottish Canadian persona I am lucky to have encountered in real life. He like me does not believe or indulge in politics much. But the attitude and the character could have easily been based on him. Again such is the compulsion of Terry's writing that you associate with these characters as if they were drawn from real life and relate to them with or without the political dialogue though it is so much funnier with.

Angus's stint in the ensuing election, his handling of the constant chaos, the self-indulgence of the political parties, the endless strain  for the upper hand, and the open need of party members to watch other players fold their hand, both within and without, leads to situations of hilarity for the reader, straight faced righteousness for Angus and ulcer inducing moments for Daniel. There is a well-placed romance and I think like me you will find the characters of Muriel, Pete 1 and Pete 2 extremely fascinating.

Enough said go read, if you so wish. Develop some laugh lines, for this book does dispense them generously, and be happy under the pale light of a bedside lamp.

For more on Terry please find below the link to his website,
http://terryfallis.com/the-best-laid-plans/

Time to walk the walk, and talk the talk.

We have a lot of money today; forty trillion dollars worth, wrapped in neat little bundles marked unfiltered debt. This unfiltered debt is very much like a pack of gigantic cigarettes sold to the public without the general statutory warning. What you realise on your own is that this debt is completely traceable to our present and immediate past, yet marks the immediate present and future generations as bearers who are to suffer for no crime of their own. 40 Trillion, bears a lot of zeroes and is a huge burden on us plus the world.
An article in the Globe and Mail expressed how we are devolving at least the majority, of us bottom feeders, into a subsistence economy, existing hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck, ‘per the article the CPA reported 57 per cent of the population would be in difficulty if their pay were delayed by even a week’. In a subsequent article Barack Obama was seeking legislative backing for economic stimulus worth $450-billion (U.S.), making the U.S. President a lonely advocate for spending at a moment dominated by calls for austerity.
Our world shrinks, the degrees of separation from the next individual dissolves over finger taps on mutating social networks, our every whim and fantasy can be packaged, gift wrapped and delivered to us without our removing cheese stained hands from the appendix like appendage we lovingly call the remote. Yet I must emphasise we cannot have our dreams delivered without credit, or without stockpiling loose change into empty jam jars or jamming the one off five dollar bills under the mattress.
Our world is getting expensive ladies and gentlemen. Our means of income are only getting smaller and smaller, the rate of unemployment has increased in Canada to 7.3 %, and U.S Unemployment remains at 9.1%. The Euro Zone Unemployment looms at 10.00%. I do not bring up the lower levels of unemployment in developing countries because 4% of a large population is still a substantial number. As job insecurity looms we stick to our comfort zones, do not take risks, tighten the noose like belt a little more, in short we do everything we can to stay afloat.
Being hard working does not cut it anymore, it does not rubber stamp a bright future, unless it would involve sitting near the bank of a river with a fishing pole awaiting our next meal, and living in  threadbare cast offs. Most of us I believe would not be ok with this scenario. Not unless we morphed into reality stars on some extreme living show and stood to make money out of our extreme plight. In truth and reality we’d probably get picked on or shot at, if we walked into any town with a stack of fish in hand, and not much else.
I do not mean this to be a wake-up call or even an aside cynical statement; my Economics degree and the contents that led to it are buried deep inside the meatloaf constitution  that is my 'dial stuck on warp speed aging' brain. What I fear is that eventually this lack of funds is going to stop the spending, Trust me I do believe it is good to be frugal I have experience of this first hand, 'of not being frugal' that is. But eventually someone’s got to spend the money or it could lead eventually to someone else on dole. The second someone else who would otherwise have been working somewhere else making what we spent money on. The hard truth is if we stop spending money now, someone will be out of a job and will need UI at some point. This UI money will come back to haunt us as more of our tax dollars that desperately needs to be spent on developing infrastructure, schools, and pensions is going to be utilised replenishing UI which would have been avoided if we did not stop spending money in the first instance. But I believe we could spark a movement in this conveyor belt, that rolls around the world and dispenses prosperity, poverty, inflation and deflation in unequal measures. We could all start small. It is a simple concept you may say, but as we begin to live paycheck to paycheck, and spending gets tougher and tougher the ramifications are no longer restricted to your local mom and pop store or the neighbourhood grocery store. It is domestic, it is international. It is a global conveyance of a lethargic economic movement. Small steps people. Shop around, get the something you want and need, if possible start with something domestic, but I strongly suggest that you spend within your liquid cash limit, do not go into debt but spend reasonably and sensibly if you can, and know that it is keeping somebody working, and their world is turning another day and in the end so is yours and mine.
This world needs a push, who better to get behind and push, than a force of six billion people. But hey who's counting.

Anna Hazare - Anti Corruption Magnet

One man, 74 plus years in age, Nehru topi, white kurta and pyjama clad magnetizes a country of 1.17 billion people. It is stale news for all you news by the minute purveyors but this movement has taken almost fifty years in it's efforts to make a dent in the darkest corners of India's political fortress.  A fortnight's delay on an unvisited blog will not shake any foundations, not today at least. This man's modus operandi- an indefinite fast. The goal- to incorporate all levels of government to include the office of the Prime Minister, Supreme Courts and High Courts into the gamut of the bill (the Lokpal Bill), to leave no seat of Government free from an anti-corruption investigation, in the event that such proceedings are required. Corruption is prevalent in all countries be it the open ended, unashamed methods practised in developing countries, or the more subtle and sophisticated, democratically shrouded options practised in richer countries. It has threaded itself into the basic moral fabric of life in the developing countries. It has burrowed deep into personal, professional, corporate, government and even charity organizations. It bathes in our pump water, courses through veins unbiased of skin, tone or color, and is unfortunately the third stigma that outlasts both taxes and death. We have all stood face to face with it even in our revulsion it has fed off us, we have supplicated ourselves however strong  in values we claim to be before its unabashed single mindedness. We may not have liked it, we may openly chastise it's birth and development we have in the smallest ways succumbed to it's snake charmer poise and rocked benignly. This cancer has grown stronger as we remain swaying aimlessly to the mesmerizing wave of it's flute and the promises it lures us into.  This 74+ man has raised an uncompromised stink, so powerful in its rightness that it raised the nation on edge and made us stand up and say yes it's about time, even though the hour has long since passed when we were meant to act. I respect our Prime Minister greatly, as an economist and a leader, he has been one of the most poised, honest and decent politicians, elected to fire up the Indian political hearth. Yet the country is ablaze with the fever this single White clothed man called Anna Hazare has lit with resilience and straightforwardness. Will the country continue in its pace of anti-corruption pacifist vigilance or will it succumb to the tradition of time and erase all memories slowly. Just so you know, and so that I may remind myself the Fast was successful and the Parliament sits to debate the clauses that could  be included in the bill. The Internet is amazing in it's thirst to dispense information, all we need is the dowsing that guides us to search and learn, I have the forked tongue and the snap of twigs in my bones so I should suffice for those of you who visit this blog for now. With all modesty be led onwards and read, and drink in what a few million have whet their thirsts for- the possibility, the hope even, that corruption will subside and eventually diminish to the ashes of a flame subdued.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Hazare

www.annahazare.org

Drink well for it may soon come to a political standing near you, the thirst for life without the impotent bribes, the filter of mistruth or the political cloaks of invisibility.

To this end I leave you, with a less serious note, a question posed by one of my friends in passing (unrelated to my rambling here). This friend asked "if you were a middle income man with three children, driving fast to get the kids to school, wife and self to work, and were pulled over on the side of the road, what step would you take. Go to court and fight it out or.....?" The possibilities are limitless.
We define ourselves and the country in the end.

The Last Station

I have watched movies and read books all my life. The movie watching was extensive and expensive, until a few years back, when a Block buster Employee (yes now of the defunct Canadian chain) Yoda'd me on having picked up 365 movies in a Leap Year. No it wasn’t that bad. It was a regular 365 days of sun, rain, snow and even more snow, year.

I have since self-rehabilitated myself. After being subjected to a plethora of stupor inducing movies and repetitive plot lined novels I subjected myself to a controlled movie and book diet.  Unfortunately I tend to fall out of and indulge in an excess of reading and watching movies- rather shamelessly I must add. 

I would classify myself as couch/bed/in short any fluffy surface Movie Watch fanatic and a bath/walk and read book lover. I would like to add rather proudly that this walk and read book reading has been deemed an extreme sport by my lesser pot-hole fearing colleagues. Given the frequency of both conditions I would think that I could pass limited judgement if I were to be ordained as the last false critic for a time.

The Last Station is a wonderful Movie. It is directed by Michael Hoffman and stars the glorious Helen Mirren (Sofya Tolstoy) and Christopher Plummer (Leo Tolstoy). Christopher Plummer has toned the character down considerably to reflect the conflicting ethos of a world transformed into a subtle chaos for the renowned author. Helen Mirren does bring over the edge acting to the forefront but I think this was more to suit the character, given her otherwise restrained performances in her past body of work. Paul Giamatti excels as Leo Tolstoy's close friend Vladmir Chertkov. He remains even in the presence of a Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer (a thespian double whammy), a very solid and controlled actor. James Mcvoy I believe overdid his performance in the initial scenes where he first meets Leo Tolstoy, but then mellows and blends into the character perfectly.

The plot is in a long line the chaotic love, that ensues between the two main characters and the justification of each characters fulfilment of their own personal life choice. His-being to give everything away and hers-to maintain a continued lifestyle for herself and her children.

I loved the movie, and in turn acquired a new found interest in Tolstoy. I actually did research him (the truth wikipedia'd him) and found that in spite of his popularity and larger than life persona all he wanted was peace and the ability to do good to and for the common man. I would watch the movie if you would like a brief outline of the man and this in turn might set a preface for you to read "War and Peace"and "Anna Karenina". I could not get through W&P but will try again, soon enough .

I do not confess to be either a good or even a refined reader. I am just someone who has read a lot. For those of you who have read the Tolstoy books I would request that you grant me forgiveness.

If you do read this and watch the movie do let me know.

Loneliest place in the world

Other than being stranded on a castaway island, or adrift in a shark infested ocean (my worst nightmare by the way) I believe the loneliest place in the world if requested to be directioned would Globally Position onto a poor mark grunting under a 50 pound bench press with no-one to spot him/her. The muscles will tighten, strain under the weight of fleecy sweat, the temperature will turn remarkably warm in the gym, yet all he or she can think of is that his/her bony elbows will collapse and a 50 pound iron telephone will rest heavily against a cauliflower chest and someone will dial 911 eventually.

Life is a bowl of soup

Sleepless at 8:11 am on day 2 of a 3 day long weekend. This title has unwound and turned into my first blog. I believe life is a bowl of soup. The frustration sets in for someone like me who has found out the hard way, that as you get older the soup gets thinner, all the good parts, the solid portions have been gorged on way too early. There are some who say suck it up. drink it quickly, while others might say let things cool and it will taste better. There might even be others who might say spice it up if you like cause it tastes bland to me. All I have got to say is Goldilocks had it great, three tastings for the price of one, if only life would let you pick and choose, rather than give you the À la carte version. If you are some one like me you usually end up choosing what sounds extravagant and exotic. And end up with a tiny piece of shrimp and a fig leaf. Go figure. Bon Appetit.