Sunny ways!

Canada has a new (ish) government and we're feeling pretty good.  Canadians can now look down our noses at our neighbours to the south.  We do that a lot.  Americans want to make America great again (by kicking out minorities, building walls and sending the country back to the good ol' days before women's lib and civil rights, I suppose).  So while Canada watches in horror, we feel smug.  We feel that a lot too.  But should we?

Canada is selling weapons to a country with horrible human rights issues.  It's building pipelines that leak oil into drinking water (mostly First Nations drinking water).  The government is back peddling on a major election promise, electoral reform.  The young (ish) Prime Minister assumes that since he's in power now Canadians are happy!  We got rid of that horrible old Harper who broke elections laws, lied about the cost of F-35 fighter jets, appointed Mike Duffy to the senate, blew the nations surplus before the economic downturn, used tax payer money for partisan advertisement, muzzled scientists....I'm getting off topic.

So, anyway, we now have a government who's cabinet is 50% women and launched an inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women (wasn't on the last governments radar).  These initiatives are good.  But is it enough?  The Liberals have always campaigned from the left and governed from the right.  We're still waiting on what they'll do with Bill C-51.  Canadians voted for electoral reform simply by voting for the Liberals.  Canadians care about the environment (even though we put that issue on hold for 10 years).  Will this government deliver?

So far, it doesn't look good.

The War On Christmas

It's Christmas, dammit!  Why are people trying to steal Christmas from us?

Well, they're not.  Nobody is.  You can celebrate Christmas any way you want.  Most of these Christmas Defenders are upset when they see the signs in the malls that say "Happy Holidays".  Those signs are placed there by businesses who want to sell as much junk as they possibly can over the holiday season.  So, instead of blaming capitalism, Christmas Defenders prefer to blame immigrants who, as far as I can tell, have never declared a War on Christmas.

It's like the myth of feminists who don't want anyone to hold the door open for them.  I've never seen it happen.  It may have once or twice but it's clearly not an epidemic.  But people will use this story (if it ever did happen) as an excuse to attack feminism because they don't have a rational argument.  I mean, who can be against treating women as equals?  Well, chauvinists.  But they don't want to admit to it so they demonize feminists.

It's also like this sudden compassion for the Canadian homeless.  "Why are we opening our doors to refugees when there's so many homeless people in Canada?"  Where was this compassion a year ago?  It wasn't there.  No, the homeless are being used as an excuse to keep refugees out of Canada.  These people don't actually care about the homeless, they just care less about refugees.

It's all a ruse.  The Christmas Defenders don't really care about Christmas, the anti feminists don't really want to hold the door open for women and the anti-refugees don't really care about the homeless.  They just have to mask their hatred.

Medical Marijuana

How many people have overdosed on prescription medication?  Seriously, I don't know.  A lot I'm sure.

How many people have overdosed on medicinal marijuana?  Zero.

I don't understand why people (who tend to be right wing) are for freedom of choice except for when it comes to a women's right to choose and medical marijuana (or recreational for that matter).  I think part of it has to do with the pharmaceutical industry and their donations to conservative parties the world over (as for a women's right to choose it has to do with religion, obviously).

Conservatives who are not rich tend to be rural folk who vote against their own interests.  They'll never be rich, they will always rely on public health care and they could probably use an escape from the constant pain of being rural folk with no prospects.  Smoke up, man!

Yet they always vote against their own interests!  Why?  Religion and a lack of education (and an aversion to books and facts).

I know a few people who suffer from chronic pain.  Some are religious, older, conservative.  They take medication that makes them constipated, their hands swell up, suffer from insomnia and other issues, which forces them to take medication to counteract those side effects, which has their own side effects.  I've suggested medical marijuana but they won't listen.  They grew up actually believing the movie "Refer Madness" rather than laughing at it for it's absurdity.  It's sad that the pharmaceutical industry causes pain when it should be alleviating it.

Their should be a film called "Prescription Madness".
  

  

The Middle Finger to the Environment

I honestly think we've all given up on the environment.

There is no disputing the scientific fact that we are having a negative impact on the environment.  I'll side with the climate experts over the oil industry and giant corporations.  It doesn't matter what YOU believe.  Facts are facts.  You can believe all you want that the earth is flat, the sky is purple or Nickleback is a good band.  You'd still be wrong on all counts.

Even if you are a denier (which would make you stupid), are you 100% sure that we are not polluting the planet?  If you have the slightest doubt then wouldn't you want the world to change?

You may think that pumping shit into the air isn't having a global impact (again, that would make you stupid), and you may look out the window and not see the sky on fire or a giant ocean where your front yard used to be.  Winter might still be cold.  But coral reefs are dying, there's an island of plastic in the middle of the pacific and lakes are drying up.

So, you may come to an age where the road behind is longer than the road ahead.  It may be natural to not care about the future if you don't have much of one left.  I guess humans are naturally selfish.  I would think it would be natural for humans to care about the continuation their DNA.  But no matter what happens the earth will still be here.  Just not with people on it.

1st Day!

It's a new parliament and Canadians are full of optimism!  Will MP's behave?

The Bass Player

The bass player never gets any respect.  Guitars have six strings and a distortion pedal.  The bass only has four strings and rarely does it get a distortion pedal.  Guitars sound cool to everyone.  The bass only sounds cool to music nerds.  You can write a song on an acoustic guitar for your girlfriend and play it for her in a park surrounded by flowers while the sun sets.  If you're a bass player you can write a cool riff in your basement but it won't impress your girlfriend (if you're one of the lucky few bass players to have a girlfriend).  Instead she'll probably yell "knock it off!"

My first guitar was a bass.  While learning how to play it I was told "it's at the bottom of the band".  Well, that didn't sound promising.  But songs need that low end and I would provide it in my Guns N Roses cover band. 

"I want a solo."  

"No."  

"But Flea and Cliff Burton had bass solos." 

"We're a Guns N Roses cover band."

There are some bass players that got all the respect (and girls).  Paul McCartney comes to mind.  The man wrote Hey Jude, Eleanor Rigby, Helter Skelter.  What girl can resist Helter Skelter?  Her heart must be made of stone if she can.  Paul's bass playing stands out on every Beatles track.  Sting also got all the respect (and girls) in the Police.  He and Paul McCartney also sang.  So maybe, if you play bass, you better sing too!  But then I think of Sgt. Floyd Pepper, the bass player for the Muppet house band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.  He got some respect, and dished out a bit of disrespect at the same time.  So basically you have to either sing or be a muppet to get the respect (and girls).  Bass won't cut it alone.

Still, learning bass helped when I eventually switched to guitar.  I understood music and rhythm a bit more.  I still couldn't sing, or join a band that attracted a large female fan base, but that was back in the days of boy bands.  I blame boy bands.  And that's really what I'm trying to say here.  Boy bands suck, the bass is cool, and there should be more bass solos in pop music today (and muppets).

The Skull Crushers and the Doodlebug Foot Stompers

When you play in a band you need everyone on the same page.  The members of Nirvana were all into the same bands and wanted to play a certain kind of music.  If you’re a member of, say, the Red Hot Chili Peppers then you probably like funk.  If you're a member of Exciter then you probably like metal.  If you’re a member of The Skull Crushers and the Doodlebug Foot Stompers then your music may lack direction and, as a result, fans.  Strumming on the ol’ banjo might not sound so good next to heavily distorted thrash guitars but I could be wrong.  I am a public servant whose musical career never made it far from recording a demo and burying it in a sock drawer.

Some musical styles do merge well.  Country and rock, punk and funk, rap and metal, metal and hot jazz, yodelling and electronica.  Then there are musical styles that should never be combined.  I’m thinking anything with bag pipes combined with another set of bag pipes.

When the Beatles combined eastern music with pop rock it merged well only because it's the Beatles.  We've all heard Norwegian Wood and loved it.  George Harrison just knew the song needed the sitar.  He was that smart.  But if The Skull Crushers and the Doodlebug Foot Stompers added a sitar it wouldn't merge well because they're not the Beatles and they don't know what they're doing (see illustration above).  If we get that Exciter reunion going then maybe a sitar on a few songs would work.  But it would have to be the original Exciter because they know their songs better than any other lineup.  If the Beatles were to reform with George and John replaced then that sitar just wouldn't work on Norwegian Wood.  If the Beatles were to reform with Ringo replaced then it would work just fine because there's no drums on Norwegian Wood.  If they were to reform with a replacement bird tweeting on Blackbird then it would sound terrible.

So if you're going to start a band I'd advise you to not bother.  Bands aren't formed anymore by musicians.  You should probably just try to get on American Idol and learn to say yes a lot.