The Canadian English Debate

I watched the Canadian English debate yesterday. There wasn't a lot of substance to the whole debate and Harper held his own. However, I find him quite patronizing and a bully. He did not have many new ideas, but rather stayed on course with the economy and what he had done in the past. Ignatieff, unlike a TrudeauJust Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau: 1968-2000 does not have the charisma of the former. I found that he held his own and raised some important issues. He raised such issues as the funding for university students. I think that may have been a tactic to get the youth vote. He also made an interesting point of the proposal to augment jails. He said that it would be better for at youth risk to attend and finish high school and then have some money for university. Ignatieff Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry: (University Center for Human Values) is a teacher and you could feel that he did not feel that comfortable in the debate. He was, after all, the rookie. Jack Layton also raised some interesting issues, such as violence against women and the role of women in politics. He did say that he had the most women representatives of all the parties. He also raised the aboriginal issue and the end of the war in Afghanistan. Both the Tories and the Liberals wanted to prolong the war. Layton had some good ideas when it came to the health system as well. He wanted to make more doctors, as there are 5 million Canadians without doctors. Gilles Duceppe, unlike his predecessor Lucien BouchardThe Antagonist : A Biography of Lucien Bouchard does not have his charisma or the whole of Quebec behind him. He raised some interesting issues in regards to the forestry industry in Quebec and the role of the government in provincial health care. However, he is a seperatist and his points revolved around Quebec. The debate was not a debate of issues, but rather an accusation of one party against the other. Harper held his ground, in his demeaning way and the others tried to put in their two cents. How do you say, another brick in the wall.

My trip to New York

I went to New York a few years ago. I went solo. I stayed on Manhattan Island, but that's where everything is. I was there for a week and stayed for a few days at the Jazz on the Town in the East Village. The rooms were cramped and there wasn't a communal lounge but it was ok to sleep in. On one night coming home from the local pubs, it seems that there's a pub at every corner, I had to look around my hostel room for my glasses, which I had misplaced. I got in a bit of trouble since I was looking in the wrong hostel room. For some reason, I couldn't stay the following day. Most of my nights consisted in going to the local pubs where I met some charming waitresses and interesting New Yorkers. One such New Yorker told me he had been to 300 bars in his life. There were probably a good dozen right where I was staying. During the day I checked out the touristy stuff. I went up the Empire State building and went on a ferry to check out the Statue of Liberty. There was more security to see the Statue, then at airports. The Statue is actually not that tall. I also checked out a musical called the Producers. It was awesome with much hilarity. I was right up there in the balcony. I also stayed at the Carlton Arms Hotel, where there was no TV or phone. However, there was a nice decor to the room.
I don't remember much from New York, since I spent my evenings in bars, but I saw a few art galleries. They say New Yorkers are rude. I did not find that to be true. On my way to the museum, a few people helped me find my way. A barfly even bought me a beer. I'll say this though, many people thought I was there to find work and I met quite a few people trying to find work. As they say, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.

My review of Cuban singer Compay Segundo

Compay Segundo (Máximo Francisco Repilado Muños) (1907-July 2003)was born in Cuba. He is a singer and trova guitarist. He is most known for the movie and album Buena Vista Social Club. However, in the CD Compay Compay we hear him play some wonderful Cuban music recorded in Clubs and Theatres. His most famous song on the album is Chan Chan

Here are a few verses (rough translation) The sweetness that I have/You cannot deny/
Another of his songs is called Sabroso.

The name of this song means succulent. Here's a rough translation of a few lines: The day that you no longer love me/I say quickly/Because I don't want to have/ the head of this animal.

Compay sings danzones, waltzes and sones. His songs are usually short with heavy guitar and ensemble. His songs are usually of a romantic nature and he has a distinctive voice. I heard about Compay Segundo in Mexico. It was not uncommon to hear his songs, however he is known as a great Cuban singer. They are sweet songs of love, loving and longing. The lovely rythym of the guitar and singer make all the difference.

My review of Czech author Milan Kundera

Milan Kundera was born in 1929 in Czechoslovakia. He is of Czech origin but moved to France later in life. His books were banned in communist Czechoslovakia before the velvet revolution in 1989.
In his book The Book of Laughter and Forgetting we see a fragmented novel, but more of a set of short stories. We do experience his past in Lost Letters and Mother. They talk about his upbringing and the state of communist Czechoslovakia. The term disappearance is used more than once. In the Angels we see a couple of teenagers recounting and discussing the novel Rhinoceros and Other Plays by Eugene Ionesco. Though they analyze it, they figure out that it is nonsensical. In the second part of Lost Letters we see an enamored man and his mistress. They have to keep this a secret from their mother. In Litost we see the rise of a relationship between a young educated man and a housewife. Litost has a special meaning in Czech, it means

a feeling as infinite as an open accordion, a feeling that is the synthesis of many others: grief,sympathy,remorse, and an indefinable longing.

In The Angels we see a young woman kidnapped to an island of children. There she learns to live with the children, however problems occur. It is a rather desolate and isolated encounter. In the last story we see the end of a unique character in the book and the ritual orgy that ensues.

This book is quite varied in its approach and does not tie in all the stories together, but rather explores different aspects of life. Like any communist era writer, Kundera talks about the revolution, but more than just that. There are human relationships and engrossing tales of sexuality.

The novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, also has tales of sexual encounters. The protagonist is a womanizer, who only truly loves his wife. In the end he figures out that it is only she that he wants. This novel, his most famous, is also a movie. It stars Daniel Day Lewis and Binoche. It has deep roots in existentialism. It is a novel about the purpose of living and explores the difference between love and sex. The setting for the novel is also a year before the occupation by the Russians. It takes place within one year. The protagonist and his wife eventually move to the country where they find peace and each other.

My review of author Henry Miller

Henry Valentine Miller (1891 –1980) was an American author. He is also known for his paintings. His works were originally banned because of obscenity. However, in the 60's he got his works published. His style is very distinctive. He is a poet and narrates in train of thought and embellished sentences. He is known for his semi-pornographic descriptions and adventures in the sack. Beyond that, he does showcase his novels with social criticisms and semi-autobiographical accounts. His words are sophisticated and his style of writing is very liberal and complex. He sorts his thoughts in a sort of ambiguous web of poetry.

He was famous for his novel Tropic of Cancer. In this novel we see him in Paris with all sorts of seedy characters, plotting his next exploits. He lived a poor life as an ex-pat living off his writing. There are some descriptive encounters with women and an exploration of different orifices and extensions. The book also recounts drunken escapades and barroom banter.

In Tropic of Capricorn we see more of his life at work in an office. He recounts his life as a married man, with mistresses. This story makes me think a little of the Post office by Bukowski. post office: A Novel
It appears that he is in a constant state of arousal and pursuit. However, this time he is in New York.

In the novel Black Spring, we see vivid images of his past in Paris, New York and his upbringing. He relates a hard upbringing with a group of tough youth. His thoughts are more scattered and poetic in this book. There are more descriptive passages then in the other two books.

Finally, in the book Stand Still Like the Hummingbird, we see Miller as a social critic. His focus is no longer exclusively on women but on the complexities of the American life. He criticizes many aspects of America. There are also some chapters on some of his most liked authors such as Ionesco, Whitman and Thoreau. In this book he often questions the reader and relates anecdotes that foster thinking. This book is more of a reflexive remembering.

Miller was very controversial in the 60's, but today he is known for his endearing style of writing. He was an original when it came to elucidating his points. That is to say, his points were vague and full of irrelevant imagery. However, remember Miller for his task at hand.

My review of author Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899 – 1961) was born in the United States, but traveled all over the world. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He was an ambulance driver in WW1 in Italy, which is the background for the novel A Farewell to Arms. He was married 4 times and also covered the Spanish Civil War in the book For Whom the Bell Tolls. He was a journalist, yet wrote many books, some of which were posthumous. He also wrote short stories. Hemingway also stayed for some time in Cuba, which is the background for the books Islands in the Stream and To Have and Have Not. Ernest traveled to Africa where he wrote a book on big game hunting and was also a fan of bull fighting, in the book Death in the Afternoon.

Ernest Hemingway has a distinctive style of writing. His prose is condensed and to the point. He does tend to have run on sentences, but the descriptions are brief and the dialogues more elaborate. He influenced many writers of his period and changed the style of writing novels.

In the novels For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms we encounter many armed conflicts. There are many descriptions of gun fights and the atmosphere of the countryside. Both novels also talk about romances which he had, more so A Farewell to Arms. In this book he talks about his relationship with a nurse in a hospital. Hemingway was injured during the first world war and stayed for some time in the hospital. We see the emergence of the relationship in this novel. For Whom the Bell Tolls is more centered around the Spanish Civil War and its repercussions.

In the novels To Have and Have Not and Island in the Stream the background is Cuba. These books were released posthumously. To Have and Have Not is more of a tale of the black market. There are gun fights and trips abroad. In the novel Islands in the Stream, the book is divided into three parts. The first is a reunion with his sons, from divorced women. The second happens in a bar, and his reunion with his wife. The third, and final part, takes place around the island of Cuba. The protagonist and his ship crew chase a WWII German boat, to the final fight.

A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises are more light hearted. The Sun Also Rises talks about his time in Europe as a journalist. We see, in the book, some interesting conversations with other ex-pats and how they saw the world of the 20's in Paris. It is a tale of going out with friends, and mingling with beautiful women.

He also had pastimes such as bullfights, seen in the book Death in the Afternoon. I did not finish this book, as it delved too much into the bullfighters and bulls, a little bit like the description of whales in Moby Dick.

The Old Man and the Sea is another classic by Hemingway. This book talks about fishing off the coast of Cuba. It also envelops the relationship between and old man and a boy. A great read.

The compilation of short stories Men Without Women and his complete Short Stories vary a great deal on the topic at hand. They reflect such themes as war, love, abortion, sports and friendship.

I have always loved reading Hemingway. He is a great writer, and talks from the heart. His details of relationships with women are believable and romantic. When he describes fights they seem plausible, even death is experienced in a plausible manner. His style of writing won him the Nobel Prize, and he traveled so much that his tales often have different flavors and backgrounds. He had the pulse of American ex-patriot of the 20's, 30's and beyond. His courage left him in the latter years, and he took his own life, but he left us with wonderful stories and a distinctive writing style. Hemingway shows us his ambitions and his past times in his books, they carry the books. He had the mind of an adventurer and the style of a storyteller.

My review of Canadian poet Al Purdy

Al Purdy is a Canadian poet (1918-2000). He was married and had life long relationships with Margaret Laurence and Charles Bukowski. Rooms for Rent in the Outer Planets is a collection of poems from 1962-1996. They range the political span of the 60's and beyond. He has poems about Fidel Castro and Che Guevera. For example in the poem 'Hombre' Purdy talks about Che Guevera.

And I remember his quick hard handshake/in Havana among the tiny Vietnamese ladies/And seem to hold ghostlike in my own hand/five bloody fingers/of Che Guevera

Purdy also wrote a poem about Robert Kennedy, in which he writes

death takes him/As it takes more beautiful things/populations of whole countries/museums and works of art/and women with such a glow/it makes their background vanish/ they vanish too.

Many of his poems are about the wilderness, the past and aboriginal art and life. In the poem 'The Cariboo Horses' he writes,

At 100 Mile House the cowboys ride in rolling/stagey cigarettes with one hand reining/half-tame bronco rebels on a morning grey as stone/-so much like riding dangerous women/ with whiskey coloured eyes-

There are some interesting poems from the pompous Voltaire, to being in a drunk tank, to the Vikings. However, he has a homegrown feel to the poetry. He's a bit rough, but his passages often dwell with what is Canadian. He is a treasure of Canadian poetry.
Bukowski once stated

I don't know of any good living poets. But there's this tough son of a bitch up in Canada that walks the line.