Books, books, books

I love books, I took lots of schooling related to books, but I tend not to think about them that much. This is probably silly. I really enjoyed speaking to Jill about her book--which, incidentally, is pretty darned great--and I have made the resolution to read more over the next year. It's a good time to make these types of commitments because, well, it's my birthday.

I'm pretty tickled.

My favourite paper printed a piece by me.

In the meantime...

Yeah, so while I was at EMP, Tash Money was kickin' it. You're awesome, dude!

Ee-Em-Pee

I went to the EMP pop conference in Seattle this past weekend. It was fun. I will distill some thoughts and spit 'em out later.

Dutty Dutty

On Wayneandwax, Wayne details the good news that he spoke on what would have been an amazing panel. He also mentions the phenomenon of the "titty wine"--clearly a play on the "dutty wine". Whereas doing the dutty wine isolates the ass and the hips, the titty wine isolates exactly what you'd think. So one's about the A and the other is about the T.

I'd be interested in what Sonjah Stanley Niaah would have to say about this new dance...

Also, in Donna Hope's Inna di Dancehall, she describes the phenomenon of "buffer zone" contests in Jamaica where women compete for nether-region notoriety (sorry, couldn't think of a better way to put it). One of the Kingston newspapers had (and maybe they still do--a few minutes of searching can't seem to locate it) a weekly spread of "buffer zones". It's a bit of a change from the page-3 girls I've grown up with!

Of all the dancehall queens I have seen, none (I suppose until recently), has really spent that much time drawing attention to her chest--there's much more emphasis on other areas, including the aforementioned buffer zone. Sure the titty wine is different, and dancehall queens are always looking for something different...but as a dance, aren't there any other options than doing what looks like breast self examination?

Pantsula for Life

The Masala boys were nice enough to put up with my blathering French on the radio this past Saturday. They played a whole bunch of wicked stuff--quite a melange, but that's what they're best at. I put together a mix of my favourite kwaito tracks. This month's Fader is their "Africa Issue". In it there is a piece on kwaito...it suggests exactly what I noticed when in Durban this past summer--that house music has very much become the soundtrack of South Africa. Hence, my kwaito selection is not exactly up to the time--but it's still a series of what I consider to be spectacular tunes. Listen and subscribe here.

I want money for cookies

A public petition, signed by Canadian residents and addressed to the House of Commons, the Government of Canada, a Minister of the Crown or a Member of the House of Commons, is one of the most direct means for people to communicate with Parliament.
Last night, dearest Julie came over for dinner. We started discussing the existence of direct democracy in Canada, as two fashionable urbanites are wont to do. The topic was that of petitions--how a citizen can present a petition to the government. Thing is, anyone can present a petition, so long as it is in a proper format. All you need are 25 signatures.

Yes, there are certain other restrictions. You can't petition for anything if it could be handled by any other level of government or judicial body, but you CAN petition for the expenditure of public funds.

This started me thinking. What kinds of petitions are actually read? Perusing the Hansards suggests that there are tons of people "communicating with Parliament" (four petitions were read last Friday, for instance), though I don't really understand what the governments response to these petitions actually is. The house sets aside an hour and fifteen minutes a week for the reading of petitions-- 15 minutes at 3:00 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays, 15 minutes at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 15 minutes, beginning at 12:00 noon on Fridays. As per our Parliament's procedural services website:

"When presenting a petition, no debate is permitted. A Member may make a brief factual statement, referring to the petition being duly certified, to its source, to the subject matter of the petition and its request, and the number of signatures it carries. Petitions are not to be read in their entirety. The statement is reproduced in Hansard, the official record of the debates, and a record of the petition appears in the Journals for that day."

Ok, so I write a petition for who knows what, I give it to my MP, they read it out to the Parliament and then what? It's just part of the "Routine Proceedings" of Parliament. I'd like to know how many petitions have had any impact. Where would I find out this info? I don't want to think this stuff is totally futile and symbolic.

There must be an angel

Because, if not, Ron C wouldn't have done this (Thanks to Dave):
"You're Beautiful"