On my patriotism

When I was a youngin' there wasn't much in the way of Canadian patriotism. Sure we were proud, and sure people knew we were good, but we didn't talk about it. We were told by our parents and teachers that we lived in one of the best countries in the world, and we truly believed that, but we didn't flaunt it, neither to each other, nor to people we met from outside our world's longest unprotected border.

As I got older, our national patriotism grew stronger. I remember buying my first piece of merchandise with a cuss-word on it. A plastic hackey sack that said "Canada Kicks Ass" on it. I kept it hidden from my mother, but I was always quite proud of it. I felt Canadians were becoming more badass and in a roundabout way made me feel more badass. We were the largest country in the world after the USSR was disolved. We have the longest unprotected border. We have the worlds longest coastline. We have the Magnetic Hill, we have a huge Nickel, the Rocky Mountains, The Tragically Hip, Leonard Cohen.

We invented without a doubt basketball, and arguably hockey. We made the Canadarm used on NASA space missions. We invented the caulking gun, the Blackberry, the Goalie Mask, insulin, and arguably the greatest invention, The Poutine, both Quebecois, and Acadian.

Our patriotism has grown leaps and bounds. We're still not as over the top and gawdy as our neighbors to the south, but we're proud of who we are and of what we've done, and what we continue to do. We help, but we don't take over. We're there when you need us, but we're gracious enough to wait til we're asked.

We're Canadian. We're the true north, strong and free. We're resilient, we're smart, we're modest, and we're the greatest country on this planet. I'm a proud Canadian. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. It's a bit dorky, I'll admit but I wouldn't have it any other way.

On my advancing age

Tonight I spent 15 minutes digging through facebook pages about Air Cadets. I realized it's been 11 years since I aged out of the program. That means it's been 13 years since Senior Leaders, 14 years since Introduction to Leadership, and 15 years since my basic training. I graduated from high school 11 years ago. I've had my drivers license for 14 years. I'm old enough now that my neighbours kids haven't heard of my favourite hockey players.

I'm reminded of girls I had crushes on, and girls I "dated". I'm reminded of dudes I hung out with and ran amok through shopping malls and quiet neighbourhoods. I'm old enough now to be glad that things didn't work out with those girls, and that when guys do what I did at that age, I think their dumb. It makes me realize that I wasn't as cool as I thought I was. That makes me wonder if I'm truly as cool as I think I am now.

I wonder why I wasn't as mature as the others around me at that time, and I wonder why kids now aren't as mature as we were. Then I wonder if we were really mature at all. I was 16 years old and in charge of twenty five 12 and 13 year old for two weeks at a time, many of whom were away from home for the first time.

It amazes me how much has changed. I've been away from my family for 10 years. I've been with my wife for 5 of those. In the first five I broke enough hearts, told enough lies, smoked enough cigarettes, drank enough booze and gambled enough money to fill every seat at the SkyDome. Someday my son is going to fail English class because I forgot to call his teacher back after a one night stand. Or he'll come home and ask me about the time I drank too much and stole a 2-4 from a bar and went drinking til 6am when his mother was 6 months pregnant for him.

When it all comes down to it, things have changed. Your 20's are a time of transition. Things latch on, and things let go. When I moved away from home, all I was worried about was growing my hair long, letting my beard out, and playing my guitar. Nowadays I'm lucky to have time to play guitar at home, and I keep my beard and hair short and tidy. Where I used to go days without family contact, my immediate family has become my tether. My port in a storm. My lighthouse when I'm about pack it all in, find a basement apartment and start drinking again.

I've done a lot of shit. I don't regret any of it. If I could go back and change it, I wouldn't because if I did, I wouldn't be where I am. I'm moderately successful, I have a very patient and understanding wife, and I have two children who think the world of me, and I of them. Someday I'll have to fight myself from telling them not to do what I did. They'll need to make their own mistakes. Learn to live their lives. Become their own people who when they're 28 years old and up later than they ought to be will look back on their lives, wonder where the time went and try to muster up the strength to move forward and live the rest of their lives.

I'm old

Heartburn city tonight.

kimbo slice

i don't watch mixed martial arts fighting, but if i did, this guy would be my favourite.

tv on the radio

is it just me or does the new tv on the radio album sound like the david bowie movie labyrinth?



it's a good record so far. bob boilen from http://www.npr.org/ mentions prince and bowie when describing it, and i can definitely hear that.

Shad

When I listen to a rap record and don't hear curses, I know one of two things has happened.

1. Somebody slipped me a copy of "Big Willy Style" again, or

2. I've managed to get my hands on a new gospel rap album.

I really had no idea what I was getting into when I procured the new record by Shad. The Rwandan born, London ON raised Polaris Prize nominated emcee has his new video on Much Music. He does a cute little homage to the Fresh Prince.



My favourite thing about this track is the inventive little piece just before the last verse when the beat breaks down and the producer is like "what's going on?" and Shad is like "Oh, I couldn't afford the whole beat."

The rest of the record is OK. Nothing groundbreaking which makes me wonder if it's me, or Polaris that's losing it's edge. There's something about this "holy hip hop" that makes the beats and lyrics seem more fresh on the first listen, but the sheen wears off after a while.

There's an Eminem influence, as well as a Fresh Prince influence, other than the video.

All in all, it's an OK record, but nothing I would be running around heralding.

word up.

Zune Update

So, I was talking to somebody at work about my Zune the other day. She was telling me all about her iPod and how it plays games! I didn't know iPods did that. But apparently they do. So I was bummed out. That night I went home and there was an update for the Zune software and a firmware update for the machine itself which gave me TWO GAMES!! HEXIC and TEXAS HOLDEM. They kill the battery, and they make my shuffle songs go in alphabetical order, but whatevs! I have games!

Now I need somebody to tell me their iPod allows them to download cheeseburgers.