Sunday, September 30, 2012

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Arab Spring

During the period immediately after the introduction of moveable type there was a great deal of violence, chaos in Europe. With the distribution of books, it was as if a jolt of adrenaline had shook the social order. There was the Peasant's Revolt, the Protestant Revolution etc. The same type of turmoil and violence has run through the middle east. After the introduction of the modern electronic revolution, information has been widely and instantaneously dispersed. Could Arab society be reshaping itself? Into what? It must be remembered that after Gutenberg Europe attained its greatest strength.


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Sarah Palin with an h

I'm sick. Sweats. Headaches. Feel like I've been listening to Sarah Palin.

Monday, September 24, 2012

Harperville P.T.A.

Canada will now be sharing its embassies with Great Britain. Unfortunately Canadians will only be able to find their ambassador in the Men's Room. Third cubicle.
Rumours around Toronto are that the conservatives plan on renaming Ottawa, "Harperville". No one names their kid - Ottawa.
Finally, Mr. Harper believes that Mitt Romney would make a hell of a first baseman.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Jimmy Carter slagged... shame on you

March 28, 1979 the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history occurred. A cooling system malfunction at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania had the potential to kill thousands or perhaps millions of people in northern Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and southern Ontario.
People were in a panic. In an act of courage, President Carter with his wife arrived on sight to assure people that a solution would be found and to calm nerves. The place could have blown at any minute.
The problem. There were 2 solutions offered.
One solution was suggested by the President’s advisors in Washington. The second solution was suggested by those on sight. The President had to make a choice. If he chose wrong America would have had a Chernobyl on its hands. By good fortune, Mr. Carter was a former captain of a nuclear submarine. He knew something about nuclear energy. He chose the advise from the people on sight. Disaster was averted.
In this election we have the Republican party slagging Mr. Carter. He deserves more respect.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Naming rights for Canada

Hoping to raise money for its efforts in Afghanistan Canada has decided to sell the name of the country for money. The naming rights have been sold for $30 million. In the future the country will be called Canada Dry.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

Liars

Liars.
During election times, hyperbole is infectious. But what's clear is that those who are shaping most of our lives, were not voted in.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

It's a scary place for many children

New book, Bicycle Thieves, a coming of age book. About boys. 
 

The Challenge

It was high noon. Little Jimmy Higgins walked up to Brady in the schoolyard, punched him in the shoulder and informed Brady that he was going to beat the crap out of him. Jimmy swaggered around, his pants falling loosely over his hips, chewing gum, grinning out of the side of his mouth.
“I’m going to rearrange your face, punk!” Jimmy scowled. “When I’m through with you, your mother won’t be able to recognize you. You’ll need plastic surgery. You’ll have to wear a name-tag so that your family will know who you are. You are in for some serious pain.”
“What did I do?” Brady asked. Brady always felt guilty for something.
“You’re always looking at me!” Jimmy declared. “Why are you always looking at me? You some kind of homo?”
“I don’t look at you,” Brady said appealing to the kids around him for assistance.
Flannery walked over to Higgins.
“Brady wasn’t looking at you,” he said. “He’s just goofy looking.”
“I think I know when someone is gawking at me,” Higgins cried as he sneered at Flannery.
“Hey, punk,” Flannery said pushing Higgins back. “You want to rearrange my face too?”
Higgins retreated slightly holding his pants. It wasn’t Flannery he wanted to fight.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Higgins responded, bowing his head.
“I don’t need you to fight my battles!” Brady screamed louder than was necessary.
Flannery turned and looked at Brady.
“You really want to do this?” Flannery cried.
“Well,” Brady responded hesitatingly.
“The homo is chicken,” Higgins yelled for all to hear.
Brady looked around. Everyone awaited his response.
“I ain’t no chicken,” Brady responded, spitting the words out.
Flannery laughed.
“Well, hell go for it!” he said.
Messengers were sent to all corners of the schoolyard. ‘Fight!’ they cried. Kids ran across the yard headed for the sight of the match, forming a circle around the two boys. Jimmy waited for his audience to gather, then gestured to the crowd.
“This guy called me a fairy!” Jimmy cried, pointing at Brady.
Brady shook his head.
“I didn’t call you anything,” he said. There was a look of complete terror on Brady’s face. It had suddenly occurred to him that he had been too rash in accepting Higgins’ challenge. Higgins was going to beat him up.
Jimmy walked around in a circle, tugging at his trousers as he explained to everyone how Brady was looking at him queer like.
“Maybe he likes you,” Big Al said than laughed.
“Was he looking at you like this?” Penny asked then batted his eyes.
“I wasn’t looking at him!” Brady cried out in his own defense. “I wasn’t looking at anyone. I was cleaning my glasses.”
“You calling me a liar?” Jimmy responded with a look of indignation on his face. He turned back to his audience. “Now, he’s calling me a liar! The homo is calling me a liar!”
Voices muttered in the crowd. Some of the girls gathered began to giggle.
“Get it over with,” Flannery said to Higgins then glanced at Brady.
“You want to say anything?” Flannery asked Brady.
Brady said nothing. It was hopeless, he thought. Why, he wondered, did Jimmy want to beat him up. The two boys had never had words, hardly ever played together in the schoolyard. Jimmy turned from the crowd and looked at Brady. He chuckled, walked up to Brady and swung.
As Jimmy swung, Brady ducked. As Brady ducked, Jimmy spun around and his pants, which had been hanging precariously on his hips, fell. Jimmy stood there, his trousers around his ankles, his stained and stretched underwear barely covering his privacy. The gathered crowd gasped then started laughing. The bell rang and the kids started to marshal back to the school still laughing. Flannery put his arm around Brady’s shoulder and escorted him away.
“Come back here!” Higgins cried as he pulled his pants up. He waved his fist at Brady now safely amongst the other boys. Brady’s pants fell down again.


Monday, September 10, 2012

Loon at Night

Loon at Night

I went out with my father
to fish one night.
A loon hung above
our heads. Like a lamp.
The moon a frying pan. Its light
soft and yellow like butter.
My father cleared
his throat. The smoke
from his cigar
twisted like licorice
in the cool night air.
The row boat laughed. And the fish
danced all evening.


Rather in the past tense

I would rather not be reminded of that, if you don't mind.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Found a new friend

She was just standing there. On the street corner. Under a street lamp. Smoking a cigarette. Wearing a red dress.

Found a new friend

She was just standing there. On the street corner. Under a street lamp. Smoking a cigarette. Wearing a red dress.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Lost a good friend

I just lost my good friend today. Victor Genova. At the shopping mall. He was right beside me and then he was gone. I searched for  hours. No luck.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Another planet?

If we saw another planet come close to us, how would we react? I know for one thing there'd be a lot of people buying ladders.
Baltimore Catechism

Monday, September 3, 2012

Compulsory Voting

What would happen in the U.S.A. if everyone was compelled by law to vote?

Sunday, September 2, 2012

The Romney Legacy

I liked George Romney. He was the Governor of Michigan when General Motors sold more cars than anyone else. Mitt, George's son, could have been one of my buddies. If he'd crossed the Detroit River into Windsor. We liked rich kids. We liked them a lot. (A scene from Deliverance.)



Saturday, September 1, 2012

A blind man dances

Acts of Levitation

Boats on the lake. Walking the tightrope. Across the horizon.

Rubens women. In two pieces. Shaking their big tits. Winking at me.

Long drive. 2 lanes of asphalt. The flats on the way to the sea. Better slow down. Just ahead of us. Illusion. Pools of water. A raccoon drowned.

The Queen is on every quarter. Winking at me.

The British wore red coats. The French were dressed in blue. Guantanomo. Omar Khadr. Killed an enemy soldier. Ten years for not wearing a color.

Gone to the racetrack. Pick my losers. Fillies. Winking at me.

In the cold ground justice has a simple rule. Saints and tyrants. Shrews and Secretaries of State. The real king is the worm.

Sunday. At the beach. Performing various forms of levitation. I was vertical. The beautiful girls showed me a new trick. They looked right through me. Some days I think I'd have been better off staying in bed. A blind man dances. Winking at me.