WTF Canadian politicians?

I’m used to stories about American politicians making jaw-droppingly ignorant statements (death panels, anyone?), but now this?

I rarely post about politics on this blog, because (a) I write it for fun, and (b) political blogs mostly look like this:

But today I am inspired to blog for the first time in weeks after reading two articles about Canadian politicians making statements so absurdly uninformed I want to claw my eyes out.

1. Nova Scotia Conservative MP Gerald Keddy (East Coast, represent!)

Re: why farmers must hire migrant workers:

“Nova Scotians won’t do it — all those no-good bastards sitting on the sidewalk in Halifax that can’t get work.”

Yes, laziness must be the reason behind Canada’s growing unemployment. Certainly not complex social issues, or even, gasp, the recession!

He’s since apologized. Colour me unconvinced.

2. Saskatchewan MP Maurice Vellacott

Re: poor abortion access in Saskatoon:

“Pro-life feminists have also come to see abortion as part of a male agenda to have women more sexually available. With widespread abortion access, the male partner has come to think that he can blame the woman if she chooses not to have an abortion after an unplanned pregnancy.”

…

“Saskatoon’s doctors should be commended for the leadership they are showing by reducing the availability of abortion in our city.”

I. Don’t. Even. Know. Where. To. Begin.

A woman’s freedom to do what she wants with her own body is part of the male agenda? ‘Cause if bitches be gettin’ knocked up, how’s a brotha supposed to get laid, amirite? Down with the patriarchy! Bring on the unwanted babies!

This statement might make a nanoparticle of sense if women didn’t bear an uneven burden — financially and otherwise — for these bundles of joy undesired consequences of sex.

(via @megan_eb)

Moving on. Here’s hoping our next generation of politicians show more promise. The Canadian Federation of Students is holding its AGM this week. One motion on the table calls for the organization (which is supposed to democratically represent/be financially accountable to most Canadian students) to increase its media transparency.

From an open letter in the Varsity:

Freedom of the media is another essential element of our democratic society, and one that student unions should champion. Instead, far too often, the CFS and its member unions shut out media, threaten litigation, and maintain utmost levels of secrecy. However, the Kwantlen Student Association (Local 26) has motioned, on pages 17 to 18, to make CFS meetings “open to all campus media.” The Post-Graduate Students’ Society of McGill University (Local 79) says on pages 51 that media “scrutiny would serve either to reign in the litigious nature of the Federation Executive branch, or to justify such legal expenses.

When I sent a reporter to cover this event last year, he was told to turn off his camera, his video cam, and his recorder. His French counterpart was then told to stop live-blogging the motions. All this because, apparently, these journalistic mediums were not “part of the deal.” Pencils only, people!

The year before, this happened.

I know this won’t pass, but hope it will. The full agenda is available here, and you can watch Canadian University Press cover this year’s AGM on Twitter (we hope) at @emmagodmere.

Everyone loves the end of the world

At least, in theory.

From Cinematical:

No amount of bad reviews could keep people away from watching Roland Emmerich destroy the world anew in 2012, which made $65 million domestically and $225 million worldwide

According to Sony, “that’s the best ever for an original movie not based on an established franchise, brand or best-selling novel.”

In “celebration” of this news, I give you this:

(via i09 and Ampersandology)

Look familiar?

Buffy issue 32, due in February.

Action Comics #1 (AKA the first appearance of Superman)

Very cool.

(via @jordynmarcellus and BradMeltzer.com)

And the Waste Of Time Award goes to…

…the Drop Fees campaign, which you’d think would be all about affordable tuition, but is actually about every left-wing issue facing the nation, and therefore, nothing at all.

The Torontoist reports from yesterday’s protest at Queen’s Park in Toronto:

“There are a lot of issues at play here,” Chairperson of CFS Ontario Shelley Melanson said, “but we don’t believe you have to make a choice between cutting off one hand or the other. The [government] money is there.” And boy, were there ever a lot of issues. The list included tuition fees, healthcare funding, affordable childcare, a livable wage, women’s income rights, affordable public housing, employment equity, new jobs, access to proper shelters, increased social assistance, Aboriginal rights, and status for all immigrants and refugees.

I’m sure the government will get right on that.

This is almost as effective at fostering change as political punk bands that write songs about how war is bad.

Also, check out this opinion piece about the event from U of T’s student paper, the Varsity.

Student council literally stops the presses

Once upon a time there was a student newspaper, and they had disagreements with their student council. Pretty standard stuff.

But now the student council doesn’t have to deal with that headache anymore, because they shut the student paper down.

The Gargoyle is the paper at the University of Toronto’s University College. Their student levy goes through the University College Literary and Athletic Society. The Society decided at a recent meeting that the Gargoyle spends too much on booze and parties, and on that basis, rejected the paper’s budget, with allegedly little-to-no discussion or debate.

The Gargoyle allots 20 percent of its budget to parties (which include food and alcohol). But those parties are for volunteer appreciation, and since the Gargoyle has no paid staff whatsoever, these funds don’t seem quite so decadent.

From the Varsity:

“The vote [to reject our budget] was done in about five minutes, without any questions being asked to the two editors [of The Gargoyle] that were at the meeting,” said Gavin Nowlan, treasurer and politics editor, who is also president of the Arts and Science Students’ Union. “They just voted it down without any discussion, which was kind of shock to us considering that the UC Lit is famous for arguing for hours about the spelling of people’s names in their minutes.”

“I guess it wasn’t fully pushed through [at the original budget meeting] that [the liquor, food, and drinks] were for appreciation purposes,” said Daniel Tsekhman, president of UC Lit. “I think a big issue at the previous meeting was that not all the information [about the budget] was given to us.”

Perhaps there was other motivation for the hasty decision?

According to Tsekhman, members of the UC Lit feel The Gargoyle makes personal attacks against them, contributing to tensions between the two groups. “This is my second year trying to build a happy relationship [with The Gargoyle],” said Tsekhman.

This sets an extremely dangerous precedent for any student paper that runs under the umbrella of it’s student union, and it’s a disgusting attack on freedom of the press. I hope the students at University College and the other publications at the U of T won’t stand for it.

Halloween: Nerdiest holiday of the year

I apologize to my loyal readers (there are about 15 of you) for my absence this last week. The blog has been vacant because I went on vacation. It was lovely. I went to Calgary to visit my long-distance boyfriend, bought comic books with no provincial sales tax, caught up on The Guild, watched Batman: Brave and the Bold, and slept. A lot.

I’m still in relaxo-mode, and have nothing pertinent to report, so instead I will bombard you with pictures of me and my friends on Halloween. Enjoy.

@poissonlivre as Beast/Hank McCoy

@bbosma as Scott Summers/Cyclops

@SlowDecade as a hipsterish Batman

@MarkCluett as Wilco: The Album: The Costume

And yours truly, as The White Queen/Emma Frost

And that’s just the icing on the cake. Click here to see such figures as Michael Bryant, Minnie Mouse, a horrible pregnant lady, and Zombie National Post.

A scathing review of my own fandom

Cracked–whose bread and butter is mildly amusing lists–recently ran an article entitled 5 Reasons It Sucks Being a Joss Whedon fan.

As evidenced by the amount of times I’ve linked to Whedon-related content on this blog alone, it’s safe to say I’m a Whedonite.

CONFESSIONS (in bullet-point, so you know it’s important):

• Yes, I frequented moderated a Whedonverse-related message board in high school.
• Yes, if you talk to me for longer than 15 minutes you’ll realize I stole most of my witty banter and turns of phrases straight from Whedonverse dialogue.
• Yes, I actually use the word “Whedonverse.”
• Yes, I found this article on Whedonesque.org.
• And yes, I get an unreasonable urge to slay vampires and spout witty quips every time I walk past a graveyard.

Now that I’ve scared away the  potential employees for whom I orginally created this blog, let’s go through the article.

Reason 5: He Will Slaughter Everything That Makes You Happy Inside

this is the only way Whedon characters achieve growth. It’s a recognized cliche amongst his fanbase: If someone makes you happy when you see them onscreen, grab your balls, because he’s going to lacerate them heavily.

In horror/fantasy/sci-fi, the stakes have to be high (not a pun). When characters regularly face life-and-deaths situations, it would be nothing short of brain-candy to have the good guys consistently win battles with no casualties. Whedon’s characters’  deaths are often random and meaningless — but so is most death. And most of all, the highs wouldn’t be as high if the lows weren’t so low.

Reason 4: This Whole Feminist Empowerment Thing Smells Fishy

Joss shoots his actresses most lovingly when they’re wet and crying and curled up in the fetal position, pressed up against a wall, broken, mascara running, bleeding, and reaching out. And what are they typically reaching out for? Some dude (or vampire or werewolf) and the dick he’s attached to.

A good hero — or heroine — is both someone you want to be and someone you relate to. Buffy faces larger-than-life-apocalyptic-scenarios, but she also faces the same struggles as all teenage girls: insecurity, fitting in, and yes, boys. But she continues to fight and she gains strength as she grows. That’s perfectly empowering.

Reason 3: Nothing Bad is Ever Whedon’s Fault

Even the finest screenwriters shit the bed. It happens. William Goldman, Oscar Winning mind behind Butch Cassidy and The Princess Bride, also wrote the adaptation for Dreamcatcher. Did he blame anyone else for that crap? Of course not, he’s a pro. Alien Resurrection is just as shitty. But that’s not Joss’ fault, according to him.

(Ahem, this is where I stop being apologetic and start being critical.)

I agree. I understand that in the big corporate process of TV, there are lots of shareholders and lots of money at stake (still not a pun), and the final product is not always what the writer had in mind. Hell, I’ve experienced this myself. But it is extremely unreasonable to accept full responsibility for the  successes, and pass the buck on the failures. And just because Whedon does his share of buck-passing, that’s no excuse for his fans to follow suit. It’s never a good idea to shut down your critical faculties and become religious in your fandom. Whedon is not infallible, nor does he work in mysterious ways.

Reason 2: Seriously, It’s NEVER Whedon’s Fault

Dollhouse isn’t getting crappy ratings because it’s a bad show with a goofy premise played way too seriously, centered around a vapid “actress” with all the personality of a petrified turd. It’s getting crappy ratings because of FOX.

While I do believe the network’s vision for Dollhouse clashes with  Whedon’s, I agree with this sentiment. Dollhouse has its highs and some serious, serious lows. That one about the power of maternal instincts? WTF? And don’t even get me started on the technophobic, dystopian, fear-mongering Epitaph 1.

Reason 1: His Most Vocal Fans are Fucking Assholes

It’s like they don’t even WATCH his shows anymore. I don’t mean they don’t tune in. I mean they don’t actively watch, in the way Woody Harrelson wasn’t HEARING Jimi in White Men Can’t Jump. The images and sounds just wash over their angry brains, a collection of details they can clutch in a puddly fist to swing wildly at anyone proffering a “meh” in their Lord Whedon’s general direction.

I violently agree with this. Fanfic and shipping are aspects of fan-culture I just can’t get behind. If you’re into a show purely for the escapism, stick with episodic crime dramas. Don’t insult you own fandom by watching with your critical faculties turned off. Let it challenge you, and challenge it right back. And while you may love the characters, you don’t own them, and they’re not real. Writing decisions are made in the interest of good television, not fan appeasement.

Heed this advice, or this is what your future holds.

Oh, and in conclusion:

(That was for the fans)

Neil Patrick Harris can do no wrong

My day is now complete, as I have seen Neil Patrick Harris guest star on Batman: The Brave And The Bold as a singing, dancing bad guy who controls heroes and villains alike with the power of his voice.

(via Topless Robot)

Lulu of the non-lemon variety

Since this blog has unintentionally developed something of a girls-in-comics theme, this seemed appropriate to share:

Nominations are in for the 2009 Friends Of Lulu Awards, which recognize “the people and projects that helped to open eyes and minds to the amazing comic and cartooning work by and/or about women.”

You can vote online until October 19. More info here.

(via Robot 6)

I was having a pretty good weekend…

And then this happened.

My favourite comics store has shut down. Any use of the #infinitebummer hashtag would be the understatement of the century. (But I did anyway.)

A usual Sunday ritual, I dropped by Grey Region around 4pm to peruse the racks. Instead, I strolled into a crowd gutting the store. Most of the shelves were already naked, their contents quickly shoved into a cliff face of boxes. A U-Haul (how did I miss that?) idled outside the garage door entrance. I asked one With me was my colleague Sheena Goodyear, who asked one of the staffers, the only familiar face amid all the activity, what was happening, desperately trying to curb our shared panic-stricken monologue.

“It’s over,” he sighed, his shoulders sliding down the emergency hatches of a sinking face. “The rent [on Yonge] is killing us.”

Hearing this news sparked an immediate football-to-the-chest kind of feeling. Grey Region was extremely warm and welcoming in a way that’s hard to find in comic shops. Most have an exclusive and judgmental air of pwning noobs about them. And this was the only store in the city where they knew me by name.

But such is the inevitable fate of the small business owner on Toronto’s Yonge Street — an issue  the Eyeopener touched on awhile back:

Heike Muellenbach, who works at Famous Retail Depot, a basement adult video store on Yonge Street, said the space above the store has been empty for many months. She said the owner, who she’s known for 15 years, has advertised the space in newspapers but can’t find a tenant.

“The big guys are trying to push the little out and those little guys were here for decades and that’s not fair,” said Mashhour Saleh, who’s worked at the adult video store for 15 years. Despite the objections of shop owners, [Toronto Mayor David] Miller said it’s time for change.

[...]

“I think it’s time for that part of Yonge Street to have a resurgence. To be a real destination that people go to for extremely modern kinds of purchases.”