Music and poverty - making the connection

In 1975 in Venezuela, a man named Jose Abreu began rehearsing an orchestra in a parking garage. Thirty years later his "Sistema" has changed the lives of tens of thousands of Venezuelans, and produced some of the finest classical musicians on the planet.

This fall, Moncton became the first "Sistema" pilot site in Canada.

VYC want YOU to audition

Happy Holidays from Valley Young Company!

We’re working hard to finalize our 2010 Season and plan to announce the full production schedule by the end of the week. In the mean time, we have scheduled auditions in Woodstock and will be running things a bit differently this year.

We’ll be holding auditions for our full 2010 company in one audition this year, to be held at 6:00 January 3 & 4, 2010 at the WHS theatre (you only need to attend one of the two audition dates). The season this year is going to consist of 3 - 4 shows (look for an email with all the production details in the next few days) and we’ll be auditioning all the shows at this time.

Books: the dark side?

I remember yearning to read, and write. One of my best Christmas presents ever was a set of Disney books on tape (yeah, cassette tape, that's right) that chimed when it was time to turn the page. I read those things until the books fell apart, and got to know a lot of great fairy tales.

Now, humour me for a minute and watch this clip from "Good Will Hunting." They're talking about soul mates and Will is giving the list of authors he counts as soul mates. Then read this column by Rick Salutin and you really see where Robin Williams is coming from. Great thinking, great writing.

Too bad I'm not there in person for the dialogue. I think there's something to be said for oral traditions, and I think we have a strong one here. There's no doubt we have problems with literacy and I'm not saying that's not important; however, the flip side is we have people whose skill at storytelling needs to be heard, not read. Old school, campfire-style.

Bach, mein freude

I've been reading a lot about climate change and peak oil. One man was asked what gave him hope in the face of considering the bleak statistics. Apparently he paused for a minute and then replied: Bach.

Read about the first replica of a Bach-era organ on this side of the Atlantic. I've always said, if I could go back in time to one place, it would be mass at Bach's church. To see the master at the keyboard, improvising a fugue or conducting yet another (almost) brand-new cantata, and hear the mammoth machine sing at his behest, now you're talking!

A change is gonna come

These days I am thinking about the industrial way of living - working away from home, driving everywhere, being stressed out, angry and demoralized because of our schedules, eating food shipped across the globe, buying everything instead of making things, standardization, not having time for social relationships, the elevation of 'knowledge' over 'wisdom.' The list of ways industrialism impacts our lives is huge.

At the same time, I am realizing that we are in the twilight of the industrial age - with oil running low, climate change on the horizon, and many people wondering if this hyper consumer state is the 'it' we have been waiting for. We're told we're rich but we don't always feel rich. The human needs below the surface aren't satisfied by the latest greatest gadget.

You had a choice, sir

This is one of the most famous lines in Canadian political history, when Brian Mulroney turned the tables on John Turner during an election debate.

Read this story of the Halifax NDP MP who is using her 'ten percenters' to advertise art exhibits in her home riding. Typically MP's use these pamphlets to attack the 'other guys' and they're usually Rush Limbaugh-type arguments.

It's about time someone used her power for good. We need more creative people like Meghan Leslie in the House of Commons. Good ideas don't need to cost money.

And on the flip side

An anonymous donor gives free Turkey dinner and a concert to 1000 people in need. Good stories deserve to be re-told.

Information is power

Here's a great video from the courageous journalist Amy Goodman. If you haven't heard of her, take some time to check her out. She tells it like it is.

As you have probably gathered, I am watching this NB Power thing very closely. Most mornings I read the Telegraph Journal online and I am disgusted at their editorial pages lately. They seem to think most New Brunswickers are too dumb to 'see the truth' about this deal, and their condescension is nauseating. I find it sickening that they only seem to parrot what the Liberal PR firms are saying, without fact checking or giving print space to other viewpoints, such as the AIMS report.

Amy Goodman says the first credo of journalists should be 'follow the money.' The TJ certainly isn't doing that in this case and they are doing a disservice to all their readers. Super thumbs down to them.

Weekend ahoy!

For those who truly do work for the weekend, two pieces about pirates, and one about thieves.

Enjoy ye olde nerdy choir cartoon below, and read this story about a young man in Ottawa who actually tried to start a pirate radio station. No doubt he would have called it W-R-R-R, get it?Ye blasted permits can dampen the souls of the saltiest of sea-faring men.


And, for those who enjoy a good political duel, the latest gauntlet is here. If you're not into long reports, fast forward to the last page and read the summary. Not to sound like a country song, but they get the transmission lines, we get the shaft.

Don't be a turkey, slow down and eat

I know it's not Canadian Thanksgiving, but I sure do love food. Here's a great little piece from the NYT for you to enjoy. Interesting to note how well the methods of food production would fit in Carleton County...

And take some time to savour these photographs. Metaphorically, of course. Next year's Dooryard Festival is going to be unreal!

I've changed my mind

I am reading a fantastic new book called "Evolve Your Brain." If you are are interested in brain science, how we learn or how our thoughts affect our bodies, you should read this book too. In it, Dr. Dispenza talks about how we create our personalities through habitual thoughts, and the biochemistry and physiology of how that works.

Repeated thought patterns lead to habits, and those are hard to change if we don't acknowledge that we have created them, that they are not innate. I think this has a lot to do with the NB Power deal, for a couple of reasons:

1. NB'ers historically have been a "have-not" province and we are used to that. By selling NB Power, the government is only reactivating that network in our brains that we can't have anything important or profitable.

2. We do not see ourselves as "fighters" so the public is hesitant to speak up and oppose the deal.
As opposed to our francophone neighbours, who probably would have rioted by now if Hydro Quebec was being sold to Ontario Hydro....

In the book, Dispenza talks about how people say they've "changed their mind" about things. What that really means is their brain has been rewired to consider things differently than before. Your mind has changed, along with your opinion.

Interesting to think about how our thoughts create our realities, isn't it?

In defense of faith

I have a small but rotating list of personal heroes. Feels cheesy to use that word, since we're all supposed to be cynical now, and believe only in the power of money and not the power of people. But nevertheless, some people are inspiring, and not because they have the letters after their names to prove it.

I love hearing about people who have triumphed over adversity. There was a book about Martin Luther King Jr. in my grade 6 classroom and I must have read that book once a week all year. Of course, it was the closest thing to my desk, and I was usually done my work early, but it was worth reading again and again because of the courage of the characters.

David Adams Richards is on my list of 'heroes,' mostly because he is an excellent writer, but also because he didn't follow the conventional path in life. He has a new book out called "God Is" and here's a great interview talking about it (fast forward 3/4 of the way, he's at the end). His honesty cuts to the bone. He can see people for who they are, flaws and all, and yet still sees them with such dignity.

I think New Brunswickers have a salt and a sophistication to them that most people will never comprehend (you gotta live here to get it, right...). Talking about hell being his drinking habit and sitting at bars with murderers and realizing that as the start of his faith. Although he doesn't claim to have answers, he gives a very dignified defense of people's right to choose a faith tradition for the right reasons. These dark months are good times to think about this stuff.

The Joy

... is about enabling other people's stories to be heard, at the same time.

Enjoy this video. Then think about what it means for your life.

And one final word of advice, from Ricard Strauss - "never look at the trombones, it only encourages them."

They're still dancing in Montreal

This comment was made yesterday by the leader of a Madawaska union local, outside the legislature.

It was an interesting event, fairly well-attended for a workday. New Brunwsickers are the most polite protesters ever. They don't want to yell because it's rude and they don't want to say mean things because it might hurt somebody's feelings. Which is good at the dinner table, but problematic when your own Premier is selling you down the river.

Apparently the protest could be heard inside the legislature, and everyone who spoke against the deal acknowledged that it's going to be a long battle. Take the time to email if you haven't already - Shawn Graham is going to pretent to consult people and let his PR spin team do the talking instead.

Our democracy at work

So, the legislature resumes tomorrow. The Graham government will introduce its agenda and outside the 'people's house' citizens will protest the proposed sale of NB Power.

Shawn Graham has made it very clear that he intends to proceed with this deal without a mandate, contrary to his own campaign promises, and over the objections of the auditor general and the owners of NB Power, the people of New Brunswick.

I will be going to Fredericton to show my opposition to this deal. Many people are uncomfortable with protests but in this case, your silence will be interpreted as support for the deal. Failure to speak up, either via email or in person, will lend support to this backroom deal.

It is tempting to let apathy take over at times like this, but if you are oppose to this deal it is your responsibility to speak up now. Complaining after the fact will do nothing to absolve our inaction when it counted most. Get in touch with me if you'd like a drive to Fredericton, the rally starts at noon. If you can't or won't go, you can contact all the provincial MLA's at the same time using these addresses:

Liberal MLA's - leglibmla@gnb.ca PC MLA's - legpcmla@gnb.ca

From the air

People out fishing and working in the woods are being sprayed with pesticides. Companies have admitted there are ways to clear brush from tree plantations without using chemicals, but it costs so much money and labour.

Hiding in the "Heritage Pool"

are lots of details that will cost New Brunwsickers continued rate increases, even with the HQ takeover.

Plus more detailed analsyis here and here. Educate yourself, it's your civic duty.

Now There's a Staff Room I'd like to visit!

Found this paragraph is Claude Levi-Strauss' obituary in the NYT this morning:

From 1927 to 1932, Claude obtained degrees in law and philosophy at the University of Paris, then taught in a local high school, the Lycée Janson de Sailly, where his fellow teachers included Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir. He later became a professor of sociology at the French-influenced University of São Paulo in Brazil.

Must have been interesting to teach at that school....

Liberals hire Gulf War PR Firm to sell us the deal

Shawn Graham's government is preparing to spend 1 million dollars to convince us that we should let him sell NB Power out from underneath us. There are less than a million people in the province, so that tells you Graham knows that it will be an uphill battle.

Among the PR firms he's retained? Hill & Knowlton, best known for their misinformation campaign during the first Gulf War. Don't be surprised if fake citizen's groups promoting the benefits of this deal start to appear. Here's what they did during GWI:

Hill & Knowlton, then the world's largest PR firm, served as mastermind for the Kuwaiti campaign. Its activities alone would have constituted the largest foreign-funded campaign ever aimed at manipulating American public opinion. By law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act should have exposed this propaganda campaign to the American people, but the Justice Department chose not to enforce it. Nine days after Saddam's army marched into Kuwait, the Emir's government agreed to fund a contract under which Hill & Knowlton would represent "Citizens for a Free Kuwait," a classic PR front group designed to hide the real role of the Kuwaiti government and its collusion with the Bush administration. Over the next six months, the Kuwaiti government channeled $11.9 million dollars to Citizens for a Free Kuwait, whose only other funding totalled $17,861 from 78 individuals. Virtually all of CFK's budget - $10.8 million - went to Hill & Knowlton in the form of fees.

Just thought y'all should be aware of the tactics. One million dollars would put a lot of books on library shelves, provide legal aid to a lot of people, provide social assistance to others who need it. That money could also be used for a referendum or listening tour or meaningful public consultations, however you like it.

Well, I've been doing my homework on this NB Power deal. I read the Wikipedia articles about Churchill Falls and Hydro Quebec, the Memo of Understanding (terms of the deal proposed), and this great commentary from the Gleaner.

My major misgivings:

1. NB'ers will pay to decomission plants Hydro Quebec doesn't want - 4.7 billion won't cover this.
2. The transmission lines will not be open to small producers in NB (ie. wind/tidal projects).
3. Hydro Quebec will not pay corporate taxes in NB.
4. We will have to pay for power consumed (in excess of the "Heritage Pool") after 5 years. This could be a lot of money, nobody knows right now.
5. Our residential rates will be frozen but not taken down to HQ current rates.
6. Does HQ intend to rebuild or decomission the Mactaquac dam in 15 years?
6b.) If they decomission it, what are they going to do with the reclaimed land along the banks of the Saint John River?
7. HQ gets to keep the carbon credits from hydro electricity generated in NB.
8. NB will pay Lepreau cost overruns the feds decide not to cover.
9. There are no guarantees or rate caps on our power after 5 years, and the deal allows for more energy "generation expenses" to raise our rates.
9b.)If HQ wants to expand their reach to Pensylvania or Maryland, will our plants/rates be paying for that?
10. If selling electricity to other jurisdictions is so profitable, why not do it ourselves and make a profit for the shareholders, the citizens of NB?

Frankly, I think an election needs to be called. This deal is a direct violation of the Shawn Graham's"Charter for Change" and New Brunswickers deserve a better democracy than poorly-negotiated backroom deals are going to give us. A rally is being held Nov. 17th at 11am, when the legislature resumes.