what i'm watching: c-span, barbarian invasions, tsunami

Big C-Span Day. We can watch John Conyers stand up for democracy today. Barbara Boxer might stand up with him. John Kerry, however, won't be joining them. Don't want to look like a sore loser, eh Mr Kerry? Got to keep that political skin intact.

Life, Death and the Movies. We saw an excellent Canadian film last night called "The Barbarian Invasions" (French with English subtitles). It's about a man facing death, a celebration of his life, and one person who loves him enough to give him the best death possible - about people connecting with one another in surprising ways that make up life's little miracles. It's funny and sad without ever being sentimental or manipulative. Highly recommended.

Death on our TV Screens. Let's not let the tsunami victims fall out of our thoughts. The survivors must be suffering in unimaginable ways.

Comments

  1. Rognar6 January 2005 at 07:03

    If you like The Barbarian Invasions, you should certainly see The Decline of the American Empire. Invasions is the sequel. Also, if you are interested in the work of director Denys Arcand, some of his other more well-known works are Jesus of Montreal and Love and Human Remains.

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura k6 January 2005 at 07:09

    I'm definitely going to see what else Netflix carries of his. Thanks for the titles.

    ReplyDelete
  3. allan6 January 2005 at 07:24

    Oh, yeah, Kerry's due to get *tons* of votes in 2008? Can he be that stupid?

    Stand or sit? Today will be a simple test of who thinks the United States should be a democracy. It'll be interesting to see how few of our leaders [sic] believe in honest elections.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sharia

This morning I see that Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is banning the Muslim religious court known as sharia . This ends months of debate about whether sharia would be legal and binding in Ontario. I'm quoting at length from the story in today's Toronto Star because many US readers are likely not up on this. In a surprise announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of sharia law off guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will move quickly to ban all religious arbitration in the province. McGuinty made the announcement in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press yesterday after months of debate and controversy surrounding use of Islamic sharia law in family arbitration. "I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," the premier told the news agency. "There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians." The announcement prompted t...
Read more

can of worms

I'm opening a sticky subject here, my need to understand causing me to throw caution to the wind. It's about Alberta. Alberta vs. the rest of the Canada. The Globe And Mail runs something about Alberta's gripes every day, and I try to follow along. If it weren't for wmtc's resident Albertan , and the ensuing arguments in comments, I would've had no warning. It's not something Americans know about. As is, observing for more than a year, I have only the smallest of clues. Here's what I know. Please pardon my ignorance and oversimplification, but I have to start somewhere. The province of Alberta is rich, because it has oil. The province of Alberta is conservative, relative to the rest of Canada. Hmm. Funny how those two go together. Because of its great oil wealth, Alberta revenue helps fund services in the rest of Canada. (These are transfer payments?) Apparently many Albertans resent this. They want to keep Alberta's money in Alberta. They don't...
Read more

low confidence

I'm excited about today's no-confidence vote . Only three months after moving here, we'll get to see a government fall, a campaign, and an election, in a system very different from what we're accustomed to. Even the expression "the government will fall" strikes us as oddly dramatic and revolutionary. My sense of current Canadian politics, for what it's worth, tells me that very little will change from the upcoming election. I'd be surprised if the Liberals didn't win. So it's kind of cool to see this happening without a lot at stake. On a semi-tangential note, have I mentioned I'm completely down with "Corner Gas"? Excellent show; I love the deadpan humour. (Great website, too; check it out .) So was that really Finance Minister Ralph Goodale ragging on Brent Butt's camera last Saturday night?
Read more