Up the Academy!

Members of the University of Alberta Star Trek Club at Universal Studios Hollywood, February 27, 1992.

Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the field of Best Picture nominees would double in size from five to ten nominees each year.

While this looks like a decision founded more on business needs than artistic ones, I'm thrilled nonetheless. As a movie fan, I've long used Best Picture/Screenplay/Director lists to seek out worthwhile new films, and this will widen the pool of recommendations.

From the early 1930s to the early 1940s, the Academy nominated between eight to ten films for the Best Picture award each year, so this isn't exactly something new. Had this policy been in place last year, surely The Dark Knight would have been one of the extra five pictures nominated, and who knows which films could be added to the expanded list this year? Transformers 2 may get a nod...oh, sorry, the list will only be ten films long, not one hundred.

1939 was a pretty amazing year for movies. Look at the list of Best Picture nominees:

Gone with the Wind (winner)
Dark Victory
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Love Affair
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Ninotchka
Of Mice and Men
Stagecoach
The Wizard of Oz
Wuthering Heights

I've seen each of these but for Love Affair, which of course is on my list. Had the Academy not nominated these films, I may have missed out on some great movies. (Naturally, the Academy isn't my only source for recommendations, but it's a great one for mainstream, non-genre, studio films.)

2009 probably won't be another 1939 as far as quality movies go, but the Academy's decision to recognize more films as Oscar-worthy at least opens the door for more great movies to get some deserved recognition and exposure. I hope they stick with this decision for many years to come.

The Bleak State of Blahgs (plus a couple of thoughts on the Evans/Elniski Affairs)

I hate these stretches when I'm too busy, stressed or tired to write something properly meaty and inspiring. I see other bloggers who churn out good, insightful stuff each and every day, and then I look at my own erratic output and sigh.

Still, I've managed to at least choose and correct the photos for the next installment of Journey to the Edge of Nowhere, which I must finish before heading back to Leaf Rapids in late July.



Most of the political bloggers I follow have been writing about the foot-in-mouth disease outbreak among provincial Tories, but in all honesty I expect PCs to say these kinds of things; they call themselves conservative, so it follows that many (indeed, most) in their party will be socially conservative, right? This is who they are. I don't agree with their viewpoint and I think their musings in recent days have the potential to do harm (if indirect) to women, girls and minorities, but at least Evans and Elniski were honest about their point of view. At least they're giving people a firm basis to endorse or reject their beliefs at the ballot box next time around.

Edited to add: Video found on YouTube via Twitter.

Just a Couple of Tweaks

I've meant to do this for a while, but now you can finally read some of my favourite posts - including movie and book reviews, essays and commentary on pop culture, and other silliness - by following the links under "Earl's Greatest Hits" at right. Hope you find something to enjoy.

The Answering Machine Message

In the comments of my last blog post, Jeff Shyluk makes an oblique reference to an answering machine message I created that "somehow" got lost.

Here's the story. Anyone who's followed this blog for a while knows that shortly after university I moved into an old, beat-up house on the corner of 108th and 108th with Allan Sampson, Ron Briscoe and Carrie Humphrey. Carrie moved out after a month, and so we christened the house "The Bleak House of Blahs," for we were all underemployed or unemployed, had no girlfriends and no prospects of rectifying either shortfall. Plus, there was a double machete murder at the donut shop a block away a day or two after we moved in. It was a dark time.

However, it was also a time of great creative energy for all of us, and this energy often manifested itself in odd ways. One day, while shopping for something else altogether (probably comics at Warp One), I came across a keychain that had eight buttons. Each button would produce a Star Trek sound effect: the red alert siren, a photo torpedo firing, an intercom whistle, and so on.

"I could make a great answering machine message with this!" I thought, and so I scripted a mock battle in which Captain Woods (i.e., me) couldn't answer "your comm signal" because I was in the middle of a battle right now, thanks very much.

I wrote a script, then painstakingly recorded the message. I set up my record player (!) to play an authentic Star Trek music track (probably something by James Horner from Star Trek II or III), hit each keychain sound effect at the appropriate moment, and delivered my dialogue as melodramatically as I could. Coordinating the music, the sound effects and my own performance was quite a feat, and it took many takes to get everything just right, but in the end, I had produced what I felt was the ultimate Star Trek answering machine message. Now all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the astounded reactions of my callers.

I believe the first person to call was my mom, and to my recollection she didn't react to the message at all, just left her message as if her son were normal. I guess she'd developed an immune response to my eccentricity.

The next call was a wrong number, but at least it provoked a strong reaction. A group of drunken twentysomethings left me a message composed of mostly uproarious laughter. Success!

But then, the fatal error. Writers and wannabe performance artists love nothing more than audience approval, and so I invited all my friends to listen to my message and to the reaction it provoked. I went upstairs to get something, LEAVING JEFF ALONE WITH THE MACHINE. Jeff wanted to listen to the message again, but hit the wrong button just as I returned, and so these words, or something very near them, were recorded OVER my painstakingly crafted message:

EARL: Hey - wha - WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU FOOL!

JEFF: Oh no!

I was crushed. All that work...I didn't have the heart to recreate perfection. It would have been like Da Vinci painting the Mona Lisa again had it been lost in a fire. Instead, I allowed Jeff's re-recording to serve as the message for a while, then recorded something more conventional.

These days, the story of creation and loss is just as valuable to me, if not more so, than the actual message itself. All art is ephemeral in some sense, and without Jeff's accidental destruction, I wouldn't have this wonderful story about those crazy days at the Bleak House of Blahs.

Earl's Darkest Secret

Most of my friends are aware that I'm not a big sports fan. I can name perhaps two hockey players, two football players, one soccer player (Pele, from ads in comic books), and I know a few team names. Oh, and I know who Muhammad Ali is, thanks to the classic 70s giant tabloid comic Superman vs. Muhammad Ali. ("Superman, WE are the greatest!")

But at the urging of my parents and various teachers, I was involved in a few sports in my youth. I curled for three years, and my team placed third one year, first another - no thanks to me, really. I played baseball in Leaf Rapids and Leduc - terribly. During one memorable game, I was hit in the groin twice and the buttocks once while at bat. However, that was three more times I got on base than usual, and at least I was better off than my friend Jeff Pitts, who once famously took a flung bat to the skull. (He's okay, and has survived far worse.)

And, as pictured above, I actually managed one of the intramural baseball teams at Leduc Junior High. I still have the score sheets kicking around somewhere.

Despite my indifference (some would say "antipathy") to sports, I find myself drawn to baseball. It seems more civilized to me than other sports, for one thing; it seems as much a game of physics as anything. There's little physical contact (unless there's a brawl), and there's something appealing about the culture of baseball: the music, the association with hot summer days, popcorn, hot dogs, cold drinks. And it's a game that anyone can play - anyone with a bat, a ball, a glove and some forgiving friends.

Jeff Shyluk and I played Earl Weaver Baseball on his Amiga during the waning days of our university careers. We created two teams: the Minions of Chaos and the Paladins of Order, based on characters we created (or stole) for a series of collaborative short stories we wrote on Ron Briscoe's Freedom BBS. Players such as Irrational Carrot and Beef Ball Moo squared off against Paramount Importance and Bottle Dropper at two ball fields Verlucci Gruond (yes, spelled exactly that way) and...and I can't remember the "good guy" field. Perhaps Jeff will assist.

This all culminated in the End of the World Series, a real nail-biter of a contest, during which one certain homer was memorably foiled by the ridiculously high outfield wall of Verlucci Gruond. I screamed and yelled and my manager character onscreen did exactly the same, kicking virtual sand on the umpire. When that happened, Jeff and I almost went mad with laughter.

The Paladins - my team - won the series, if only just, and thankfully the infamous All-Star game didn't count. (I believe I lost that one 99-1.)

Even now I sometimes get the urge to find a bat, a ball, a glove and a friend and waste an hour or two cracking wood against...against whatever baseballs are made of.

I do understand, at least a little, why so many of my friends and family members enjoy sports. There's something beautiful about the human body in action the human mind calculating angles and vectors and velocities, interposing bat or stick in just the right spot at just the right moment. Perhaps it's just the angry side of sports that turns me off, the urge to win at all costs, to hurt others in the pursuit of something as abstract as a championship.

When people play, everyone should win. Maybe that's naive, but that's the kind of sportsmanship I can get behind.

Why Criminals Lose

I'm no lawyer, but contrary to the hood's brazen assumption, wouldn't everyone be charged with murder or attempted murder in this scenario?

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... ;-)

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

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.

YAY

Star Trek was so much fun. Details to follow.

Less Than 24 Hours to Go...

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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.

You Animal! Aiiiieeearrrrrr

This classic image is from the equally classic Paranoid Production, Generous Nature. Here, Pliers (Ron Briscoe) tortures Roarke Norway (Jeff Shyluk). Directed by Earl J. Woods, this forgotten noir masterpiece will soon be available on YouTube, completely remastered with all-new digital effects - unless the players object strenuously.

On Wings of Balsa

On April 25th, a fellow named Steve Eves broke a world record by launching the world's biggest and heaviest model rocket, a 1/10 scale Saturn V.

When I was younger, model rockets captured my imagination. I only wound up launching a few, with varying degrees of success, but I always had fun.



One day in 1983, Keith Gylander, Ron Westman and my brother Sean and I (Sean's the young one in the middle) crossed the street to East Elementary and launched a model X-Wing, purchased several years before in Leaf Rapids, assembled only days before this launch.



Unfortunately, I forgot to stuff the protective wadding into the nose cone, so the parachute flare damaged the 'chute and the model plunged to earth instead of floating down safely. So this rocket had one and only one launch. But for a few moments, we all slipped the surly bonds of Earth and rode in that tiny plastic cockpit, heading for the stars.

Earl J. Woodshol

Earl: Total War

A few days back Jeff Shyluk was playing Empire: Total War when he noticed something interesting and took the screenshot above.



If you zoom in, you'll see that this bewigged fellow, one Earl Woods, is serving as Governor of a territory in northern Ontario. Sadly, Jeff tells me that my computer warlord namesake lasted only a few months in the position. That's longer than I'd last as a real-world warlord, I expect.

Graduation Day

I've completed my whirlwind 10-week graphic design course! For the last lesson, Professor Shyluk and I crafted this diploma, which I'll frame and display in my office.

I'm very grateful to Jeff for putting together a very well-designed, informative and challenging course. I learned a lot about Photoshop, design principles, and art history. Now the challenge is to see if I have any sort of talent to apply to graphic design! At the very least, I know what to look for and how to tell the difference between good design, bad design, and passable but uninspiring design.

Thanks Jeff!

Chocolate Defiant

I meant to make note of this a while back - for Easter, Sylvia found a chocolate USS Defiant, Captain Sisko's ship from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It's interesting that the chocolatiers chose this relatively lesser-known vessel; why not the Enterprise? Probably because the short, stubby shape of the Defiant is less likely to break into several pieces during shipping.

This thing is huge; two weeks later, I've barely managed to eat one of the warp nacelles.

Alberta Liberal AGM After-Action Report

Close to 300 Alberta Liberals - many of them new and/or young members - crammed into the Radisson Hotel today to elect a new executive and hear from Alberta Liberal Leader Dr. David Swann.

The biggest news of the day was Dr. Swann's crystal clear announcement that any notion of changing the name of the party is off the table, calling himself a proud Liberal ready to move forward under that proud tradition.

There was also a lot of good news on the fundraising front; in recent days, individual donors have come forth with donations worth multiple thousands of dollars, on top of a rising wave of donations that have turned the tide on the staff and office front, allowing the party to keep operating smoothly for several months.

Most executive positions were contested by at least two candidates, an exciting renewal of interest. The winners:

President: Tony Sansotta
Secretary: Nancy Cavanaugh
Vice-President, Policy: Dr. Avalon Roberts
Vice-President, Communications: Jody MacPherson
Treasurer: Stephanie Fuehreur

(My apologies if I've misspelled any of those names.)

Finally, party members voted to extend membership eligibility to Albertans 14 years of age and up, down from 16, recognizing the growing number of young adults who have been coming forward to help the party.

At the risk of sounding partisan, I was genuinely excited by the level of energy and spirit shown at this meeting. Hundreds of people travelled from across the province to handle some important business, and Dr. Swann really shone as he outlined his vision for a healthy Alberta - I wish I had a transcript of his speech. Sylvia and I are both very glad to have attended.

Video Report: Alberta Liberal AGM

At Long Last, a Little Love for Libraries

During my tenure as the late Lois Hole's speechwriter, I wrote dozens, if not hundreds, of speeches on the importance of libraries. Libraries were Lois' number one passion, so I have to give credit to the Alberta government for significantly boosting public library funding. I'm honestly surprised that the provincial Tories are doing this, but I'm nonetheless delighted.

For old times' sake, here's an excerpt from one of the speeches on libraries Lois had me put together, a celebration of the Wildwood public library's 50th anniversary back in 2004. I think she'd be pretty pleased by the government's decision.

...These people, in their quiet way, have maintained one of civilization’s great traditions: the gathering and dissemination of hard-won human wisdom. In this way, libraries have been and shall always be the engines of civilization’s progress.

In fact, without libraries, such progress would be impossible, especially in the modern era. These days, we all depend upon libraries, whether we know it or not.

Because in the library, those with sufficient drive and curiosity can uncover the deepest truths, using books to explore the thoughts and actions of others and to inform their own creativity.

Books are the gateway to a better tomorrow, for books challenge us to use our minds, to find better ways of conducting ourselves and managing the great problems of human existence.

In the library, we can find the resources to examine and confront our most difficult social problems.

Or we can find solace there in times of stress, indulging in the great works of literature, or even the not-so-great – whatever suits your particular taste.

Libraries are as crucial to our survival as schools, hospitals, farms, or any other institution you can name, because they ensure that we need not learn the same lessons over and over again, from scratch. Unlike our stone age ancestors, we can learn from the experience of those who came before.

And that gives us a remarkable power to change and grow and do things better.

But sometimes, because Canada enjoys such a high rate of literacy, we take libraries for granted. Well, we can’t afford to do that anymore.

In an age where giant media conglomerates try to shape our opinions with sound bites, we need books more than ever before.

Good documentaries and news programs have their place, but when you really need to understand an issue in depth, you’ve got to turn to books.

And because books are so expensive these days, libraries have become even more important, to ensure that reading doesn’t become a hobby for the rich.

Without true literacy, democracy itself becomes impossible; the real battle of the 21st century, I believe, will be between those who would use ignorance to serve their own greed, and those who selflessly open the doors of knowledge to anyone who cares to listen.

By building a culture that venerates the principles of literacy, we may yet save ourselves from a grim future of literary haves and have-nots.

Libraries are the cornerstone of civil society, of the liberal democracy that we’ve come to cherish. We must not allow them to crumble into disuse.

...Our libraries require all the love and care we can give them, for libraries don’t just preserve the wisdom of the past; they contain the seeds of a better future.

For fifty years, Wildwood’s library has performed a mission that’s absolutely critical to Alberta’s continued prosperity: maintaining and improving the literacy of our people.

And we cannot underestimate the importance of that mission, for learning to read is the first duty of every citizen; teaching another to do so is the second; using that ability to maintain your education and the education of others is the third. As Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

With those words in mind, I think we owe it to ourselves and to future generations to serve others by keeping learning and literacy alive. One day, hopefully not so very far in the future, everyone on this Earth will enjoy the gift of literacy, and when that day arrives, we’ll be one giant leap closer to building a more just, more peaceful, more prosperous world.

The future of our country absolutely depends upon a literate population, and attaining that goal involves not only vigorous support of our public schools, universities, and public libraries, but also public health care and the fine arts.

All of these institutions, when taken together, form the foundation of a prosperous, literate culture, and we must not neglect any one of these institutions for the sake of another.

As I grow older, I've been thinking more and more about what kind of future the next generation can hope to expect.

While human beings have made a lot of progress, especially in the last hundred years, we also have a long way yet to travel.

Some of the problems we face—hunger, crime, disease, poverty, racism, war—seem almost insurmountable.

It's no wonder that many of our young people have cynical attitudes about their future prospects for employment and a good life.

But we can bury that cynicism if we work together, young and old, to fight poverty, injustice, and racism.

And the best way to build a better world for our children is to fight for our public libraries and public schools.

If I could bestow one gift upon young people, it would be a good education, an education rich in literature, science, mathematics, history, crafts, sport, and the fine arts. It would be an education with no shortage of excellent teachers and a full supply of the world's best books.

And part of that ideal education would include teaching youth about community responsibility, public awareness, trustworthiness, respect, and compassion for their fellows.

Education doesn't just provide the next generation with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper; it also gives them the tools they need to make ethical choices.

Whenever I wonder why we’ve been put on this Earth, the example of the men and women I’ve known gives me my answer: we’re here to help, and to make the world a better place. Any chance we have to make a positive difference, as you have by supporting your library, should be taken: it’s a blessing.


...We all have a very personal stake in libraries, and so we have a responsibility to take a more active role in their maintenance and growth.

In a world of changes, contributing to the health of your library is one of the only legacies that really lasts.

And in building a legacy for your loved ones, you’re also investing in a more literate, more enlightened world.

Thank you, and enjoy your library.

Ne Cinema Verite Pas Avec Baseball

Un film de Earl J. Woods, starring Sean Woods.

The Wont of a Nail

Saturday gave me a lot to think about.

It was my brother's 33rd birthday, and I was regretting my inability to find a Black Belt Jones poster for him, hoping that the Robby the Robot bank I found would be interesting and unusual enough to amuse him.

Sylvia and I rose early so that I could load a bunch of cardboard into my car for recycling and hit an ATM for some cash for our new housekeepers, who were to arrive that morning.



I stopped the car to dispose of some garbage and found this painting. I paused, because I'm currently taking a graphic design course from Jeff Shyluk, and art history is a major component of the course. I'm scared to critique this because I can't identify it. Could someone have abandoned a master's work by the trash?



I drove to the recycling station near SuperStore and disposed of my cardboard. Then I entered SuperStore to purchase some Pepsi for Sylvia, and found, to my delight, six-packs of Coca-Cola in glass bottles. But the contents of my groceries shifted in the trunk, and when I opened the lid to retreive my booty, one six-pack of Coke fell to earth and two bottles smashed upon the asphalt.

Grumbling, I gathered up the surviving soldiers and went upstairs to our condo for a broom and dustpan. Our housekeepers had arrived in my absence, and were busy sterilizing our home, much to Sylvia's delight.

I swept up the shards of glass and walked over to our condo's garbage bin. On the way, a man asked me, "Are you Quentin?"

"Nope. Just a guy with a bunch of broken glass," I replied, using my best smooth talkin' grifter voice. I flung the glass into the trash and returned to the condo to hand over the cash (to the housekeepers).

When the housekeepers left, Sylvia and I gathered up Sean's presents and drove south, along the Anthony Henday, to Joey's in South Edmonton Common. My parents and brother had already arrived. Sean performed a hat trick, flipping his hat through the air to land on his head. I asked him to do it again for the camera, but the second attempt was unsuccessful and Sean was unwilling to make a third.

We ate. Sean had a chicken thing, Dad had a beef dip, Mom had hot wings, Sylvia had blackened Cajun basa, and I had some kind of chicken thing. A thing on a bun.

We left. Mom and Dad handed over some Super 8 mm film, which I plan to tranfer to DVD using the services of Cine audio visual, or perhaps London Drugs. Sean went with Mom and Dad, and Sylvia and I went to IKEA.

We purchased BOOBLI curtains. Sylvia liked the colours; I liked the Tarzan of the Jungle pattern of leaves. We purchased a DAVE laptop stand, seen here:



We purchased a clay pot and saucer, for Sylvia's transplanting plants plan. The pot and saucer fell from the cart seconds after the IKEA teller rang the purchases through. She rushed out and told us she'd see we received replacements. Minutes later, the debris was disposed of (I cut my finger) and another IKEA person brought us a new ULBGORT and BOOGINK.

We left. Hmmm, I thought to myself. Today I smashed four things: two retro Cokes, a clay pot, and a clay whatever-you-call-the-thing-you-put-under-a-clay-pot-to-catch-the-excess-water.



We drove to the City of Edmonton Eco Station on 51st avenue and 99th street, where I disposed of my old Dell and VAIO computers. The Dell caused me problems from day one; the VAIO served faithfully and well for many years, and was in fact still fully functional until I ripped out its hard drives. Shades of Dave singing "Daisy."

We returned home. I built the (other) DAVE for Sylvia. I watched last week's episodes of 24 and Heroes.

Later, I gently stubbed my left big toe. That's the toe with a slightly ingrown toenail - nothing serious or even noticeable, except the flesh is tender if disturbed.

I looked down at my toe and wondered why I perceive of the toe as "my" toe, as a possession. My toe, my fingers, my chin, my back, my arms, my spine, my stomach, even my brain, my mind. These are the things, conceptually, I own.

I wondered: what is "me?"

I thought, not for the first time, that I think of myself as the bit up inside my skull that talks, the silent voice that is thinking these words as I type them into the "new post" window.

I wondered why it is that I should exist as a consciousness mapped onto the grey matter of my brain. I understand that there's a biological reason, but what's the metaphysical reason? If there is a reason at all, which I do not presume.

I wondered if perhaps my body was just an extension of some greater being, a universal consciousness using me to sense and experience and move through our three dimensional world in the same way that my brain directs my fingers to type these words.

I wondered if each human being - or every sentient being - is perhaps just a sensory organ of some greater thing, the universe itself using bits of matter to experience this reality we struggle to understand.

I wondered if Sylvia and I and our parents and our siblings and neighbours and friends and everyone else are actually just different aspects of that same being.

A being who, a long time ago, thought to itself, "I want to experience life as a Caucasian male born in Flin Flon, Manitoba in 1969 who becomes a moderately successful professional writer and breaks four brittle things on a spring day in 2009."

Maybe those shards of glass and clay, the ones I cleaned up yesterday, were the entire reason for my existence. Who knows?

I should really take care of this ingrown toenail.

Add Your Voice to the Alberta Budget Debate

As most of my readers know, I work for the Alberta Liberal Caucus, the nine MLAs who serve as the Official Opposition here in Edmonton, the provincial capital. Today our caucus unveiled what I believe is a pretty darn cool idea: a toll-free number and website Albertans can use to send us their questions, concerns and opinions on the government's budget, to be released this Tuesday.

If you haven't been following the news, you may not be aware that this budget may return the government to deficit spending, prompting speculation that the Tories will turn to their first and favourite solution: slashing public services.

As someone who cares passionately about public education, public health care, the arts and our social safety net, this possibility worries me quite a bit. That's why I'm so glad that Dr. David Swann, Leader of the Official Opposition, is making it so easy for Albertans to make their voices heard.

All you have to do is phone the toll-free number on the card I'm holding up: 1-888-886-2834. Or visit http://www.budget2009.ca/ and fill out the simple form.

Our Alberta Liberal MLAs will bring the best questions into the Legislative Assembly, ensuring that the voices of Alberta's extraordinary citizens are heard.

It's our budget, too. If you care about fiscal responsibility, about public services, about caring for the less fortunate - give the number a call.