Nunc Scio

My friend Matej is doubly blessed: he knows a lot about great bands most people don’t know about, and is a great writer. I am thus tickled to present a happy combination of the two for your Friday reading enjoyment. A more comprehensive list you are unlikely to find.

The Oughts

The only thing harder than cataloguing your favourite music is writing an introduction to a catalogue of your favourite music. According to iTunes, I have almost 800 albums from the period between 2000 and 2009. That’s not almost 800 complete albums, but it means I have at least one song from that many — and in many cases, many more. This is by no means meant to comprehensive, exhaustive or otherwise complete. In fact, I’m sure I’ve forgotten something. And were I to make this list again in a month (or even a week), it would probably be different. Nevertheless, here are 50 of my favourite albums since 2000:

Alexisonfire | Crisis (2006)
It’s amazing to me how seamlessly this band blends soaring, beautiful melodies with desperate, screaming vocals. Or maybe it’s not seamless at all. Maybe it’s the harsh juxtaposition that makes it work. It’s also amazing that I couldn’t get into it at all at first, but now it’s a staple from the last decade.

…And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead | Worlds Apart (2005)
The title track begins, “Random lost souls have asked me, ‘What’s the future of rock ’n’ roll?’ I say, ‘I don’t know, does it matter?’ This and that scene, they sound all the same to me, neither much worse nor much better.” This might not be the future of (alt-prog-art) rock, but it’s certainly a welcome evolution. Powerful.

The Aquabats! | Charge! (2005)
Costumed poppy punk rock (is that even a genre? Sure, why not) at its fun, energetic, campy best. Every song title ends with an exclamation point. I find it hard to listen to this album and not smile. Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t like Ann Coulter. In fact, I would go so far as to so I hate Ann Coulter. She’s a shrill, unpleasant human being who cynically preaches ignorance and intolerance to make her living as a cog in the paleo-conservative anger machine. I try to ignore Ann Coulter as much as possible in the hopes that she will just – somehow – go away and leave us alone.

But as much as I hate Ann Coulter, I also love freedom of expression. Which is why I’m so irritated by this whole flap at the University of Ottawa.

In case you missed it, here’s what happened: Ms. Coulter is currently on a speaking tour of three Canadian universities, including the University of Ottawa. On Friday, March 19, the Vice-President Academic and Provost of U of O, Francois Houle,  wrote a letter (read it here) reminding Coulter of Canada’s anti-hate legislation and warning her to be respectful during her speech. This was pretty unusual, and got tongues wagging on both sides of the border. But then, in a truly bizarre move, the university canceled Coulter’s speech last night.  Apparently, it was a “public safety issue”, although I suspect it was more of a case of intellectual cowardice.

Here’s the thing: freedom of speech is important. And it is really important that everyone be afforded this right equally. Canceling a speech because of what someone might say is wrong. If Coulter were to say something hateful enough to trigger Canada’s hate speech laws (legislation which I don’t entirely agree with, but that’s a post for another day), then she should be charged. But the point is that this should happen after her speech, not before.

When people – especially those who oppose Ms. Coulter’s views – let her speak, they actually do themselves a  favour. It gives them insight into the twisted machinations of her brain. I always hate it when, say, a white-power guy is set to speak and everyone shows up and boos him off the stage. Listen to the moron. Learn how his mind works. If you’re serious about engaging in the war of ideas, you should at know your enemy. That’s just good strategy.

Gagging Ann Coulter also shifts the debate into her preferred zone of debate – perpetual victimhood. As soon as her speech was cancelled, the conversation immediately changed from “Are Ann Coulter’s views correct?” to “Is Ann Coulter being persecuted for her views?” The first debate is pretty easy for her opponents to win. The second is almost impossible. The University of Ottawa has done Ms. Coulter a solid by confirming her central speaking point: liberal society – particularly universities – are anti-free speech and discriminate against people with conservative views. People like Coulter can be intellectually defeated (here’s a good example), but you’ve got to have the balls to engage them in open debate. This business just gives Coulter a free pass.

In the end, universities are supposed to be places of debate rife with the conflict of ideas, not bastions of shrinking liberal violets who lack the courage of their own convictions. Let’s fight ignorance with facts, intolerance with reason. Let’s fight out in the open and without fear. And above all, let’s not hide behind our laws and hand our opponents an easy victory.

Would I go see an actual biopic about Weird Al? Yes. Dozens upon dozens of times. But this will have to do.

Among my various disparate extra-curricular activities, I am very fortunate to be on the Board of Directors for The Actors Repertory Company, a pretty kickass theatre group here in Toronto. Our latest show, Martin Crimp‘s The City, is premiering this week, and you should probably go see it.

Why? Because it’s awesome. And that’s not just “I-have-to-say-that-because-I’m-on-the-board” talk. This is a genuinely awesome play. Martin Crimp is one of the UK’s best contemporary playwrights, and the show features a slate of amazing actors and a crackerjack creative team. The City is a dark comedic mystery, and as the Guardian notes, “the brilliance lies in how it allows the audience to create its own story. We emerge deeply disturbed, but aware of a writer in full control of his talent.”

The deets:

Venue:  The Berkeley Street Theatre, Upstairs -  26 Berkeley Street
Opens:  Friday, March 19, 2010
Closes:  Saturday, April 3, 2010
Performances: Monday – Saturday at 8 PM; Saturday at 2 PM
Tickets:  $25 General Admission; $15 S/S/Artists; PWYC Monday

Tickets are available by phone at 416-368-3110, online at www.canstage.com, in person at the Berkeley Street Box Office, or at the door.

Also, if you can get a group together, I can swing you a discount. I have powers.

You were in one of my favourite movies, and for that I am grateful.

Thanks to darkchia00 for putting together the clips.

5:58 AM: Printed. And now, I sleep.

4:52 AM: I think I’m just about done this thing. I’ve lost all ability to judge how good it is. It’s in the director’s hands now. The director’s patient, patient hands.

4:10 AM:

….to Hell.

4:01 AM: Blargh.

3:33 AM: I now have a draft. Let the improvening begin. Look how excited I am:

3:15 AM: A thought occurs: everything I write is garbage.

2:29 AM: I am always impressed by the massive urinal here. A family of vacationing Belgians could live in there for a week if they wanted.

Also, may now be going a little squirrely.

1:41 AM: There was jerky!

12:41 AM: I’ve got about a page and a half now. I only have one actor, so the whole thing is a sort of long monologue. I don’t much envy the poor sod who has to memorize all of the bleating. We’re coming up to the traditional 1AM snack run, so I can get away from this thing for a few minutes. What wonders will I find at the corner store? Do they have jerky? Will it even be open? So many questions.

11:48 PM: We have video!

Note to self: the cradled-laptop shot is not the most flattering.

11:08 PM: I have a title! And a character name! Are they good? Probably not! God, this is fun. All the angst of writing compressed into eight hours.

10:35 PM: It begins. I’ve received my room and actor assignments. I will be writing for the chapel. This is both delicious irony and a happy turn of events, since it can seat a lot of people. I am nothing if not an egoist. For posterity, here’s a picture of my looking happy and caffeinated after completing the obligatory Timmy’s run:

And now, I begin the random stream of consciousness that will loosely resemble a play.

Since 2004 (and with an I’m-living-in-England absence in 2006), I’ve been taking part in a nifty little event called Trafalgar 24. The gig is pretty simple: you show up at 10PM at the Trafalgar Castle School, get assigned a room and some actors, and then write a 10 minute play due at 6AM the next morning. Then you get shuffled off to a hotel to crash, and a bunch of actors and directors show up and attempt to stage your delirious, rambling mush. Come 7:00PM, a bunch of nice people show up to watch them. The whole thing is a chance to pretend I’m a writer for a day, and it’s a fundraiser for the excellent  Driftwood Theatre Group. They’re the kind of people that deserve to have money raised for them, so I get a big charge out of the whole 24 hour extravaganza.

This year, I thought it might be fun to “liveblog” (as the cool kids say) my experience of churning out a play overnight. So, starting here at 10PM, I will be providing real-time updates of my slow slide into madness. Here’s a photo of me taken around 2:30AM last year:

I promise to look even more crazy and less flannel-clad this year.

Plus, it’s an all-girls school, so I’ll also be posting the endlessly amusing things you find stuck to the wall. Here’s an exemplar from last year:

Clumsy renditions of bad teen romance? We got ‘em.

So, tune in here tonight for all sorts of wacky good times. It’ll be totally rad. I promise.