Fox, meet henhouse; hens, meet David Emerson

I see the Premier announced a sweeping review of energy policy in BC, just what, 7 years since the last, ahem, sweeping review of energy policy in BC, to be completed in January.

Anyone who's ever worked anywhere near government knows the fix is in when "reviews" are given extremely short timelines. All four (4, yes, quatre) task forces have been mandated to report out in less than 3 months, with Christmas and New Years in the middle. And, if any further evidence is required to show the outcome is already pre-determined, I give you the newest apparent member of cabinet, one David Emerson. (Granted, the news release specifies he's "ex officio." Not an actual un-elected member of Cabinet or anything, just one voice in the room, I get it. Whew. That's a relief. I was worried he'd have influence.)

You may remember Mr. Emerson from such earlier works as "Oops, I Privatized BC Ferries" (chair of the board during the BC Liberals' first term), or his amusing foray into federal electoral politics and identity crisis. Prior to that, he was paid millions to run a forest company while tens of thousands of jobs were lost and entire forest-dependent communities practically disappeared. (Good for him, of course. I get that he was paid to deliver to his shareholders, not workers or towns, and that changing international market conditions and the failure of the industry to adapt and evolve were totally not his fault.)

I don't mean to bash David Emerson here. What did Kurtz say to Willard near the end of Apocalypse Now? "You're an errand boy, sent by grocery clerks, to collect a bill."

I think Mr. Emerson is a little higher up the food chain than "errand boy," but, as he has throughout his career, he's just doing what the boss asks for.

But, in this case, the boss in question is the Premier, who was just re-elected with a third straight majority, meaning there is no question at all that whatever policy Mr. Emerson comes up with (or, more likely, cuts and pastes from Plutonic Power's shareholder prospectus) will be implemented. The Liberals have been looking like the wheels had come completely off, but it's looking like someone's waking up over there.

Friday morning music - September 2, 2009

This comes from one of the first movies I ever saw in a theatre. Absolutely brilliant song, killer guitar solo from Robbie Robertson and the (sadly, late) great Rick Danko on bass and vocals.

Shocking discovery: Unedited version of BC Throne Speech (excerpt)

Yesterday's BC Throne Speech included a remarkable sentence,as published:

"The fiscal cupboard is bare, and currently hangs on a wall of deficit spending."

The original, unedited version, as discovered by the radical pragmatist (ok, ok, imagined, gawd!) is even weirder:

"The fiscal cupboard is bare, and currently hangs on a wall of deficit spending, which itself separates the kitchen of higher taxes and the dining room of program cuts, while the open concept living room of debt leads into the hallway of borrowing and interest rates, itself leading to the stairs of business cycles and up to the three bedrooms of economic transition and the bathroom of lost jobs."

Friday morning music - August 21, 2009

What I said the other day about posting about actual, you know, issues? I'm getting to it, honestly.

In the meantime, play this loud.

Friday morning music - August 14, 2009

I actually saw this episode...more than 25 years ago. The outfits and the hair look pretty silly but the playing more than holds up. I love how weird it looks now to see Letterman holding up the LP of Murmur while he introduces them.

*Actual* posts coming soon, promise.

I'm baa-aack

It's been a long, long time since I posted last. Sometimes life takes weird turns when you least expect them; recent turns have been exceptionally weird, and even more exceptionally unexpected.

This summer has not quite gone the way I'd thought it would, to say the least. Regular programming to return soon.

Les Paul r.i.p.

No, there is no real link between the death (or life) of Les Paul and this clip of Bowie playing "Five Years" with Arcade Fire, but a) I wanted to acknowledge the death of Les Paul, even though I have never enjoyed playing the namesake guitar (too heavy, and I always associated it with Jimmy Page, and I hated Zeppelin) and b) I heard "Five Years" on the way to work today, wanted to share, and this was the best version I could find.

Real reason I never really liked Les Paul, the guitar? Embarrassment. In the late '70s, before we had French immersion in elementary schools, or French, period, my parents made me take after-school French lessons. A couple of years later in Grade 8, when everyone had to take French, I figured I knew a thing or two about French that my buddy James, who had not taken French yet, couldn't possibly know. Early into the year, we both walked into the band room for the first time, and saw--gasp!--an electric guitar leaning against an amp. From the doorwat, James said, "cool, a Les Paul." I walked over and looked closely at it and said, "oh man, you don't know anything. It's "lay paul."

Seriously, a really amazing guy. What a life. Check this out.

And here's Bowie. This version is a little too polished for my liking compared to the stripped-down original from 1972 (!), but he still sounds amazing.