Total Pageviews

Friday, May 29, 2009

Alberta Gothic



With Bill 44 likely to pass into law on Monday - keep sending those emails and making those phone calls, folks - what better way to encapsulate Alberta's new image than with a bit of artistic homage? That's Premier Ed Stelmach and Sustainable Development Minister Ted Morton, a marriage made in an Alberta that seems to turn more gothic with each passing day...

Oh, and I didn't create this image - credit for that goes to Calgary wit Corey Hogan. But I may have had some input into the concept... ;-)

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The 25 Million Dollar Question: Freedom to, uh...fumble?



The gentleman attempting to answer Dr. Swann's question is Lindsay Blackett, the Minister for Culture and Community Spirit. I love how his fellow Tory MLAs have to shout the answer out for him.

One Last Chance to Stop Bill 44

Yesterday the Official Opposition managed to goad the Stelmach government into holding a free vote on bill 44, giving the Legislature a rare chance to actually defeat a bad bill.

Bill 44, for those who haven't heard, finally writes in protection for gays and lesbians into Alberta's human rights code. That's the good part of the bill. Unfortunately, Culture and Community Spirit Minister Lindsay Blackett added a parental opt-out clause that enshrines the right of parents to pull their children from classes that touch on human sexuality and matters of religion.

On the surface this doesn't sound like such a bad thing, but parents already have those abilities under the School Act. Enshrining these abilities as human rights, with all the protections that implies, could expose teachers to lawsuits from offended parents, and this threat could significantly chill classroom discussion on a wide range of topics: evolution, history, comparative religion, perhaps even educational attempts to curtail bullying, which you'd think should be universally approved - but how can you really teach people not to bully without touching on some of the triggers for bullying, such as the victims being members of a minority religion or sexual orientation?

In short, I believe this bill is very bad for education in Alberta and harms our long term prosperity and our growth as a society. The Alberta Teachers Association, the Centre for Inquiry, the United Church and a host of other groups from within and outside Alberta have condemned the bill, and it is in fact international news, with the vast majority of the coverage being negative. This is doing terrible things to Alberta's reputation, at a time when the Alberta government is spending millions on rebranding our image!

I encourage everyone to google Bill 44 for the extensive news coverage of the story, and if you're as worried about this bill as I am, then give your MLA a call and ask them to vote no on 44 when the free vote comes up. That could happen as early as late afternoon today. If nothing else, the free vote will allow Albertans to see which MLAs are truly Red Tories and which are buckling under the pressure from the party's right wing.

Visit this site to find out the name of your MLA and their contact information: http://www.assembly.ab.ca/net/index.aspx?p=mla_home

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Review: Star Trek (2009)

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR STAR TREK (2009). DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW UNTIL YOU SEE THE FILM (unless of course you have no interest in seeing it).

Review continues after photo to create spoiler space...


Kevin Kelly, Earl J. Woods and Jeff Pitts, Halloween 1987









Every lasting mythology needs reinvention. That includes popular culture. The stories of Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, Superman and others have been reimagined by dozens of different writers, artists and actors across the decades. And yet, whether played by Johnny Weissmuller or Rony Ely, whether written by Edgar Rice Burroughs or Philip Jose Farmer, Tarzan remains instantly recognizable as Tarzan. Any child or senior citizen can identify any photo or drawing of Superman, no matter the artist or actor.

For a long time, Star Trek was a curious exception to this phenomenon; Shatner's Kirk, Nimoy's Spock, Kelley's McCoy and all the others seemed to lock actor and character together, seemingly forever. The story of Kirk's Enterprise had a beginning, a middle, and an end, and instead of reinvention, sequel series, some of them very good, others mediocre to awful, were created. Of all the figures in the Star Trek stories created by Gene Roddenberry and his inheritors, it has always been the original crew who had the best chance of making the leap from short-lived pop culture phenomenon to enduring mythology. A mission of exploration, a heroic leader, a shamanic outsider, an emotional, everyman healer, their stalward companions, each a recognizable ethnic and character type - these are the perfect elements for the kinds of myths that could be told and retold for hundreds of years.

Until now, however, Star Trek's endurance was by no means a sure thing. I believe, for all its flaws and all its merits, JJ Abrams' new Star Trek film is the key to giving these characters the same longevity as other, earlier figures of popular culture.

The film is brash, gorgeous, and most of all, fun. The plot is driven too much by coincidence and some laughable science (the vastness of the universe seems about the size of a modest backyard, given the travel times), but if these hiccups are overlooked (and many audience members won't even notice), Star Trek is the kind of movie that people will see more than once in theatres - and in these days of DVDs and downloads, that's a rare thing indeed.

The film's greatest strengths are its loveable characters, engaging performances, a wry sense of humour and a powerful emotional core.

Every actor delivers a note-perfect performance.

There are no mocking imitations here of William Shatner's often-parodied line delivery; Chris Pine's Kirk is utterly, believably the hero we grew up with, cast in a new guise, with a new attitude, but still Kirk to the core.

Zachary Quinto shows no trace of Sylar (his villainous role from television's Heroes); rather, he gives us a new interpretation of everyone's favourite Vulcan, a Spock under desperate new circumstances, a situation Nimoy's Spock never in his worst nightmares had to face.

There are moments when Karl Urban's turn as Dr. Leonard McCoy seem to draw upon the spirit of DeForest Kelley himself; I'm not a believer in the afterlife, but when watching the character's introduction, I felt Kelley's approving presence manifesting itself within McCoy's new actor. It was eerie and comforting and wonderful, and I hope Urban/McCoy is given more screen time in the sequel. It's been too long since this character's humanizing touch has been felt.

Zoe Saldana's Uhura is smart, compassionate and tough - at last, a story in which this too-often-underused character makes a real difference, and has an emotional arc of her own.

John Cho's Sulu is less developed due to limited screen time, but an actor better known for light comedy definitely shows great potential here as the swashbuckling helmsman. Likewise Anton Yelchin as Chekov, a 17 year old prodigy in this incarnation, with an incomprensible accent and a penchant for saving the day.

Simon Pegg as engineer Scotty was the one casting choice that made me think "Cool!" and "Oh no!" at the same time. I wasn't sure if the hero of Sean of the Dead and Hot Fuzz would make a convincing miracle worker, but Pegg nails it with a lighthearted performance that neatly sidesteps cliche, if only just.

Bruce Greenwood as Captain Pike plays a pivotal role as inspiration and mentor - the kind of guy you'd want to follow into the unknown. And Eric Bana's Nero is sufficiently desperate to provide the film's necessary menace.

My favourite performance, though, was that of Leonard Nimoy as the elder Spock. Nimoy shows us that Spock has grown even wiser in the years since we last saw his character (chronologically, in a two part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, back in 1991). He's warm, brave, compassionate and inspirational, and Nimoy seems to relish stepping back into the role to pass the torch to his younger counterpart.

This is an origin story. We see the childhoods of both James Kirk and Spock, in brief but revealing scenes that capture why and how these boys grew into the mythic figures that would be admired by millions. In one of film's best scenes, a gifted but bitter Kirk gets into a horrendous bar brawl; we see his amazing potential, hindered by the tragic circumstances of his birth and flawed upbringing. But a new father figure, Captain Christopher Pike, offers a second chance in a short but inspirational speech that gives young Kirk the opportunity to realize his full potential.

"I dare you to do better," Pike says, and this line isn't just a challenge to one man, but a reflection of the Star Trek philosophy, namely that humanity as a whole should be dared to do better: to clean up our environment, to work together in peace, to reach out for the stars and keep pushing to new and greater heights. Earth is a clean, utopian world in this film as it has always been in this myth, and it became so because men like Pike - and before him, figures real and imaginary - dared their fellow citizens to do better. This is the most important message in the film, and it's thematically repeated at later points in the movie: Kirk challenges Spock, Future Spock (Nimoy) challenges Kirk, Kirk challenges the Academy, Spock challenges his unknowlingly racist peers.

I saw more than a few tears being held back at a couple of key moments in the film - the tragic circumstances of James T. Kirk's birth, and Mr. Spock's terrible loss a couple of decades later. And perhaps most of all, by Spock's father Sarek's confession to his son in the wake of that loss.

The film isn't perfect. The movie rushes to put all the character pieces in place by the end of the film, with the result that promotions that would normally take years to achieve occur in days (on the other hand, if you were presented with an Academy graduate that quite literally saved the planet Earth itself, would you not perhaps be inclined to put him in charge of a starship?). Stellar distances are compressed to the point of nonsense. And too many plot points depend upon vast coincidence (and again, the stories of Edgar Rice Burroughs are infamous for this, and yet they remain enjoyable). And if you think too hard about the strategy of the main villain, the plot falls apart completely.

But even in the face of these misssteps, Star Trek remains full of wonderful character moments, thrilling action, and gorgeous spectacle. My favourite visual in the film is that of the Enterprise rising from the clouds of Titan, with majestic Saturn looming in the backgroud. That image alone gave me a chill and a sense of wonder, something I haven't felt in a movie for some time.

With Star Trek's characters and setting recast in a fresh new light, the story of Kirk's Enterprise takes its place alongside the great 20th century myths of pop culture. The human adventure really is just beginning.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Less Than 24 Hours to Go...



pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood

Monday, May 04, 2009

Still Nearly Famous

Back in 1984, when I was working on CBC's pilot If Your Parents Split, one of the actors gave me a button that said "I'm Nearly Famous," a reference to my just-granted role of show host.

Twenty-five years later, it looks like I'm still merely "nearly" famous. Today, my old electoral foe Ed Stelmach is Wikipedia's featured article of the day:



(I find it amusing to refer to the Premier as "old foe" or "nemesis" not because I take myself that seriously, but because I find it incredibly amusing that he probably doesn't even know who I am, given his landslide victory over me, seen here, in my brief appearance in Ed's Wiki article:



So there we are, my footnote in history, at the losing end of a whopping 10,000 vote margin. Still pretty cool to be in Wikipedia, though, even if it is just my name beside some numbers!

Congrats to the Premier - and the Wiki editors who wrote the article! - on being named feature article of the day.