Monday, November 17, 2008
Last dance
This picture belongs to this guy.And then I said goodbye.
Because I'm never going to another convention again.*
People kept asking me why and I couldn't express it succinctly other than to say "Just because it's time."
I tried writing a big long explanation of it, complete with detailed Canadian political history and my little role in it. But that just got boring and self-absorbed so I ditched it.
Long and short: that whole part of my life has just become a dry hole - emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. If I cut the cord now, I can get out before the bad memories completely overwhelm the good ones.
So that's that. Nothing much else worth saying, but there's some music worth sharing. Here's a little playlist I put together in tribute to my partisan life:
To the beginning:
The Partisan - Leonard Cohen
The Minstrel Boy - The Clancy Brothers (trad. arr.)
To the middle:
Tub-thumping - Chumba-wumba
To the end:
Tonight I have to leave it - The Shout Out Louds
Sally MacLennane - The Pogues
And, finally, to the future. This song shuffled up on the drive home and, overwhelmed by a sudden sense of liberation, I just started uncontrollably giggling and clapping like a child.
Let's Replace the Cityscapes - The Triangles
Before I go, I have to give some big shout-outs to my old college buddy Rob (one of my groomsmen, actually, who seemed to drop off the face of the Earth almost immediately after the wedding) and my old blogging buddy Fil, who happened to be in Winnipeg on business. They each added further happy dimensions to what was already a momentous weekend for me. Cheers, dudes!
*To be utterly clear: I'm not going to go to another convention voluntarily. If I'm required to go to one because of a job or a client, that's different.
posted by Mentok @ 10:26 a.m.,
9 Comments:
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At 9:16 a.m.,
said...
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I know how you feel. I'm still interested in the process and the outcome (watching election results is like a good sports show to me) but could never be bothered to be a player in it again. Of course I was basically booted out but my disinterest in being involved was evolving already, I believe.
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At 3:27 p.m.,
Natsthename said...
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You have reached the point in life where dry holes are unacceptable. Congratulations, you are officially grown up.
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At 3:35 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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NOOO! Not that! No no no! I'll never grow up!
Haven't you seen my birthday party and Halloween pics? How could you possibly accuse someone like that of being "grown up"?
On the contrary, this latest move is going to help me put distance between myself and all the suit-wearing, scotch-drinking squares of the world. -
At 4:01 p.m.,
said...
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Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.
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At 8:49 a.m.,
Natsthename said...
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One can be grown up and still participate in non grown up activities. How the hell else do you live into ripe old age?
The suit-wearing scotch drinkers are the ones who are pretending anyway. And just how many of them would rather not be there, too, and simply give up and give in?
You have honored yourself. -
At 11:45 p.m.,
cchang said...
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Conventions eh? I have many more on the horizon, unfortunately....all work related.
Random aside, my band leader Sheldon was sent to Vegas for a tech convention and he skipped and wandered into, well, another convention. This one was a Miner's Convention. He brought back all sorts of goodies like a stress ball shaped like a rock and calendar called "Women in Mining" They were fully clothed...and April was actually a man because the mine the visited had no women in it. Anyway, I'm rambling. -
At 2:56 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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That's very funny about the Women in Mining calendar. Was the guy in drag or anything?
It reminds me of a story from work. I run an engineering and geoscience publication. One issue, we featured a cover picture of a bunch of geoscientists down in a mine looking at a rock. It was a collection of guys and girls. YOu could tell some were girls b/c they were less bearded and had long flowing hair outside their safety helmets.
We thought the readers would like the image of diversity. Instead, we got all sorts of complaint letters because the girls' hair was loose outside their safety helmets, contrary to code. "What sort of example does that set..." yada yada yada. -
At 11:31 a.m.,
FiL said...
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So, tell me: did the Tories sit around in Winnipeg trying to come up with a way to commit spectacular political suicide? Or was there some overly strong BC bud in their cigars??
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At 12:13 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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It's not suicide, it's gotterdamerung. This is a catharsis that has been long overdue in Canadian politics.
From their perspective, the Tories didn't start this (but in any war both sides blame the other for starting it). The Tories got wind that the NDP and Bloc were conspiring so figured they should launch a pre-emptive strike.
If you ask me, the strike was about 2-3 months too pre-emptive, but I'm not on the ground there to make those judgments.
No matter how this shakes out, Canadian federal politics will end up healthier and more stable.
If the Tories have their way, the Bloc will be financially strangled out of existence, the Liberals reduced to a rump party and the NDP will become the dominant party of the left, since they're the only opposition party that has any sort of fundraising base. (Believe it or not, Tories have long envied the British "clear cut" Labour-Tory split.)
If the Liberals have their way, the NDP will be co-opted and the Bloc will be sufficiently discredited (from having participated in government) to weaken their vote, which will leave the Liberals and Tories to regain seats there.
While Harper's moves may have been strategically necessary, I think he underestimated the "cornered animal" response from the opposition.
In this, he has no one but himself to blame since the Tories went through the same thing. Earlier this decade, former Liberal PM Jean Chretien's fundraising reforms were provocative enough to cause the parties of the right to but aside their differences and reunite.
Harper should have anticipated a similar reaction when the other parties' existences were threatened. Fog of war, I guess.
My recommendation to Canadian voters of all stripes is to sit back, enjoy the fun, have a good Christmas and laugh at the politicians expense. When the dust settles, we'll all be better off for having this mighty enema flush through Parliament.
