Phendrana Drifts

Nov 24

Getting ready for next election

In what may be the death knell for this blog I’ve decided to start a new blog – AlbertaVote.ca – about the upcoming provincial election. Here’s my post on why:

Getting off the pot and into a blog

I left partisan politics a couple of years ago, right around the time of the coalition discussion in Ottawa and the global economic downturn. You can listen to much of my rationale on The Unknown Studio’s podcast on the topic where Dave Cournoyer and I were guests but the shortest way I can explain it is that I was at a point where I had to choose where to put my political energy and partisanship no longer was rewarding. Do not get me wrong, a lot of people whom I like and even love dearly devote countless hours and dollars to partisan causes and I applaud their efforts, indeed your democracy would not work at all without their passion and participation. It was far more personal than any general disgust with the system or a specific party. I felt I had better things to do, better ways to be heard and so rather than hang around, I got off the proverbial pot.

And I haven’t regretted it one minute – at least until the other day. Having fought two provincial election campaigns I recognized the tell-tale signs that the next one had begun, and I was on the outside.

I still have a passion for politics, a keen interest, some training and a day job that means I have to pay attention anyway so I thought I needed to channel that into something. This blog is that something.

I’m not sure where it is going to go, but I do know it is going to focus on the next provincial election, and the many political moves that will happen between now and then. I’m going to endeavour to make the posts of a reasonable quality and provide as much context to what is going on and how it relates to the coming polling day where we elect our provincial government.

What I cannot promise is to be free of bias. I will try and be upfront with any biases I might have and present you the information, news and subtext from my perspective, and try and point interested readers in additional places to find more information. You should be judge – and you will be, one way or the other, come Spring 2012 if not sooner. I also can’t promise freedom from run-on sentences. I’m notorious for it and albertavote.ca does not have an editor.

If you have any thoughts share them in the comments section, drop me a line at duncan@phendrana.ca or send them to @phendrana and @albertavote over Twitter.

This is the first election in many Albertans’ lifetime whose conclusion isn’t essentially foretold. The first since I’ve left junior high. I’m excited to see where it takes us and I hope you are too.

Oct 11

The empty desk

Civilization, Ripley 1 Comment »

After a good deal of thinking and fretting I decided to buy a new computer. The major motive was to get a rig capable of playing Civilization V but honestly it had been a long time coming. I had a rather bargain basement PC purchased in 2004 but it had long seen better days and was consigned to the basement after a unfortunate incident with the power supply. Rather than buy a new supply we decided to instead buy two new PCs last year specifically for Allie and Raven, which isn’t to say I didn’t use it. All of this material humming and hawing aside, the reality is it had been quite awhile since I had a computer at home and it was a necessary need.

I ordered it on October 4, scheduled to arrive and be deployed in that empty space you see above on around October 18. I’m pretty excited.

We bought a new desk that essentially is a 2 metre-long plank with very little else. It is a modular design from Ikea so there is the eventual plan to go out and get more but for now it works great in the space we have and will allow Allie and I to share a desk in comfort. Or at least I assume depending on the size of the tower that will arrive shortly.

The new computer is also significant in that it will be the first Windows PC I will have worked on regularly in quite awhile – I work in a Mac environment at work for the last four years and while I am happy with OSX it simply doesn’t play most of the games I’m looking at. I’m a little worried mind you, as I am far out of practice with Windows. Allie and Raven’s PCs are administered by me, but really I don’t spend everyday or even every week on them and my knowledge of Vista is scant let alone Windows 7 which I’ve never even touched.

I hope to update the blog a little on experiences returning to a PC after a long absence as well as spending some time with a gaming computer in general.

Of course, if the computer takes much longer to get here, I may just use the blog to pine for its arrival.

Sep 04

Making Movies

Alberta Politics, Movies Comments Off

I’ve been reading with curiosity the debate back and forth on a new documentary by Leslie Iwerks called Dirty Oil. It was filmed in part here in Alberta and focuses on the Athabasca Oilsands and the economic development around getting oil out of it and the environmental concerns with doing just that. The issue around this documentary is that it applied for, qualified and received a $54,700 provincial grant from the Alberta Multimedia Development Fund. The Edmonton Journal story is here, but a lot of virtual and real ink has spilled covering this story so I’m sure you can find additional stories if you’re interested.

Partly I’m sure to make some political hay, but in part because they do not honestly feel this a particularly helpful use of tax dollars, the Wildrose Alliance is decrying this development, believing that the Government of Alberta should not be funding films that promote “anti-Alberta propaganda.” The mainstream media covering this has all but outright said that the Wildrose’s position is that the government should not give out grants based on content, and they have also implied to some extent that the government wishes it could but can’t. Actually both parties positions are much more nuanced (and better than that) but before I look at those, let’s get the basics out of the way.

We want a film industry, and a greater cultural industry in Alberta. Not only is it great for economic development – after all in most cases filmmakers would come here, drop a bunch of cash at local businesses and employ a bunch of people and then leave – a creative economy offers benefits that are harder to quantify. Businesses want to locate where there is culture to occupy their employees and families after 5:00. They also want to be a part of a community that is rich and vibrant. Business also works better in an educated community and with education comes things like plays, museums, libraries, and performances. For the most part none of that is much dispute, but what might be is the fact that this does not happen by magic. Government dollars and policy need to be devoted to making this part of economy possible.

I am not convinced that the Wildrose Alliance is interested in devoting more resources to culture in Alberta – indeed, it is hard to pin down what they would spend more money on than the current government, but they do deserve the benefit of the doubt. Their leader when not filtered by the media or her news releases (which is an entirely other story) is pretty clear. She wants a film industry but believes the best way to foster it is through tax credits rather than grants. On Twitter she pointed her 2,500 followers to look at this See Magazine article by Maurice Tougas.

I used to be a fan of tax credits. They seemed like magic. The same kind of policy magic that things like legalized gambling, marijuana decriminalization and the invisible hand are – if you do them, cool things will just happen. If you offer a tax credit for it, people will magically just start buying bus passes and take the bus to work everyday. Simple, right.

In my day job I had to look at tax credits and their impact on behaviour as opposed to grants, and not that this is at all transferable to making movies but the overall conclusion by most academics and policy wonks is that in some areas tax credits do not encourage behaviour, at least not as much as upfront grants.

When I think about movie financing (which admittedly is something I know almost nothing about) I imagine the people who back movies looking for a tax credit might not be as interested in making a movie like Dirty Oil. They probably are relatively financially savvy people who are looking to make a profit and would love to have a financial blockbuster along with a tax credit over a controversial film and a small government grant. It would seem to me the ideal system would offer both and that both would be 100% blind to the content.

That is not to say government, in particular our elected representatives, should be denied their opinion either. It would seem transparently stupid if the government were to come out and say they love that Dirty Oil is being released and encouraging discussion on Alberta’s oilsands. They don’t like it, they are spending millions of dollars countering other campaigns and the fact that this movie is coming out paid in part by the government is not a part of the communications master plan.

When I consider the responses I have heard on this topic – which range from those who support the film and believe the oilsands should be shut down to those who feel that the government should have the right to deny grants based on content to the even more bizarre government should not be funding movies regardless – the most rational seems to be that of the government itself – they don’t like the film, the film met the criteria to get a grant and they got one. Alberta’s film industry needs financial supports to survive and thrive.

But I will quickly change my mind on the government’s response if their review of the program ends with either a cut or an additional box to fill out on what the content they are funding is. As Voltaire said, “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” As long as we agree that government should support the film industry, that support needs to be blind to the content.

Post-Script: While I was thinking of this blog Avaaz.org began circulating a petition among the left in Canada to deny CRTC registration (and therefore cable funding) to the new Sun News cable channel being promoted by Kory Teneycke and Sun Media. I guess for many on the left it feels weird when the shoe is on the other foot, but I for one am just as passionate that the consideration of Sun News needs to be blind to the content of this Fox News of the North and look at whether it meets the criteria of being a cable news station.

Aug 21

Because what I really needed was another blog…

Tech 2 Comments »

Due to peer pressure I have gone out and got a tumblr blog. In its infancy I still don’t know what it does that say this blog doesn’t save a good deal of interactivity with other tumblr users (and that’s likely enough). But I do worry what this means for this blog… I already blog far less than I’d like and having yet another outlet for my social media and writing means this blog may suffer further.

Which is a shame. I know I’m not alone in this lament, as many of my best friends have complained that better and more creative methods of sharing on the internet are destroying sort of traditional blogs. Unless your Empire Avenue price needs a boost of course.

I’m a little excited for the change, but naturally a little worried. Explained as alternately as either a blog that is easier to update on the go or a long form twitter I’m still not convinced I needed another outlet like this. But let’s find out… I’m off to do the 30 day Tumblr challenge which many have told me is the way to start.

If you’re looking for me on Tumblr I’m at phendrana.tumblr.com.

Jul 28

The Most Beautiful Show I’ve Ever Seen

Television Comments Off

I can’t deny that Matthew Weiner’s masterpiece had me at the pilot, but increasingly I find I’m haunted by the themes, images and characters of Mad Men. It has been a long wait for the fourth season and I’m glad to see it return in my life.

I’m almost overwhelmed by the beauty of the series, and how much it feels like the world of my parents but inhabited by real, flesh and blood people. But and idealized version of their 1960s world, and one inhabited by characters I simulatanously want to be and loathe.

I want so badly to be Don Draper. But at the same time I know I lead a richer, more full life than he does.

I don’t watch a lot of television. I firmly believe I can only really keep up with at most four shows, and one has to be a bit more inane than the others (Big Bang Theory FTW!). But I cannot over recommend Mad Men to anybody. It is so pleasing to the eye, so filled with style and grace, how could you not watch?

I typically try and avoid writing about product endorsement, but Mad Men is different because too many people are turned off by the elevator pitch – and the pitch sucks, no question. “Explore the mysogyny of the late 1950s and early 1960s in a New York ad agency” or “See an ad exec throw away his family due to his philandering ways” just doesn’t ring the same way other shows or movies could. But spend more than 30 seconds this summer and invest your time in watching a couple of episodes of Mad Men.

Every episode causes a conversation, a deep and real conversation with our family. Every time I see great design I note it can’t hold a candle to the best Sterling Cooper (or SCDP) can put out. And it will challenge your morals, about why our society went down the path it did in the 1960s.

Jul 20

My inner shutterbug

Edmonton, Family, Tech 1 Comment »

I have a love-hate relationship with photos. First and foremost, I hate my own picture being taken. It isn’t that I’m ugly, as that determination is left for others, but I really just don’t like it. As for taking pictures myself I really never have taken it up as a hobby, which in the words of David from The 40-Year-Old Virgin is the only hobby I don’t have. I thought things might change when I got an iPhone, the first mobile phone I’ve had with a camera. But no. It hadn’t. Until last Friday.

I bought a little iPhone app called Hipstamatic – a lot of my friends tweeted about it and I do love gadgets. And when I say I have a love-hate relationship, the love is not just for awesome pictures of dogs, cats, mountains and hot girls – I love lots of pictures that have any kind of quirky or artistic twist. Just I couldn’t ever really express myself in it, my pictures were too ordinary and lacked character. I think that the potential was always there, I just needed a push. Well, Hipstamatic gave me the push. This past weekend on a trip to Wainwright I literally took over 100 photos. To be clear, that might be more than all the other pictures I ever took – combined. Here is a sample of my weekend shots.

Jul 13

Sick day!

Uncategorized 1 Comment »

But I’m fairly uncertain what to do with it – I do need to feel better as in there is a lot of stuff to do at work, but I’m not so ill that I am confined to my bed moaning a lot. It’s kind of an odd place to be – although it may mean there is enough energy to do something work related but not all the way to doing “work”.

I wonder what other people do with their sick days. When you think of them while at work you romanticize them – imagining worlds conquered in video games, or movies watched, books read, but when you actually need to take one you lead a sedentary life that matches your pets.

Boo. Now I want to go to work.

Jul 07

Happy Anniversary!

Family 3 Comments »

Happy Anniversary Allie! I love you with all my heart.

Jun 28

How many people can I blame at the G20?

Federal Politics 4 Comments »

Like many I am not happy with what went down in Toronto over the weekend, and I can’t seem to stop thinking about it. My disappointment is at so many levels and so many different people. While I thought about the order, I wouldn’t read too much into it – there is enough blame that I’m not sure we have to portion it out, just know that lots of Canadians are disappointed in you.

To the protesters who destroyed property, threatened people, and committed dozens of crimes this weekend – I am upset that you perverted an event for your own ends, ends that society doesn’t support and employing tactics that hurt dozens of people and businesses, big and small. You provided the justification for the security and your provocations invited a police response that was not otherwise needed. Your actions are not just illegal, they are not wanted and I condemn the acts.

To the police, if you can’t do your job without violating an individual’s Charter rights, we have a problem. I don’t want to pretend that I understand the legal intricacies of your job this weekend, and I recognize that situation in downtown Toronto could have escalated to a point where it could have spiraled out of control, but when I watch the video above I can’t help but think that you’ve gone too far. It’s offensive. It’s more than unfortunate. And I believe based on what I’ve read and heard that it was unnecessary, as were many of the 900 arrests you made over the weekend.

To the officials who closed the sanctioned protest point at Queen’s Park – citizens need to have a place to voice their dissent. It’s a basic human right. I recognize that safety concerns mean that the point cannot be right in front of the convention centre, but if so you need to provide an alternate space. Dispersing that group then placed hundreds in the difficult place of deciding whether or not to exercise their rights somewhere else – somewhere that threatens the security of the conference you’re protecting.

To the people who organized alternative conferences to the G20 – perhaps you are the least to blame – but be more active in providing an alternative dialogue to the closed system of the G20. Make it real, make it accessible, and make it clear that you condemn rather than condone the destruction of your city.

To the assembled heads of states and heads of governments of the G20 – maybe this roving conference idea isn’t working the way you want – you are giving the impression of disenfranchisement while creating logistical nightmares. I don’t know what the solution is, but there are those who said if you had it in Toronto in January there would have been fewer problems. If you had held it in northern Ontario in the winter there would be even less. As well, on the content of what you do – ensure you are paying attention to what your citizens are saying. Your agenda is not universally shared, and while I applaud your efforts to protect our monetary system and the economic recovery it needs to be defended not through truncheons but through rhetoric and leadership.

Finally, to the mainstream media and social media covering the conference – a lot actually happened in the discussions, discussions that you should have reported on. The stories on the protests and near riots are important, but the lawlessness of Toronto on Saturday pales in comparison to a good Montreal Stanley Cup riot. The next morning La Presse’s headline was still that Montreal won the cup. Your attachment to the images of the protests fed the violence and ignored the issues. And you did so salaciously. It took me ages to find out what the more violent protesters were in fact protesting against – and I had to find out on the kind of sites that cause CSIS to put a note on my file, rather than reading any story from the Globe or the Star.

What a terrible weekend. A black mark for the City of Toronto.

Jun 25

Luna, the nearly squished dog

Family Comments Off

Do you see that tiny space my leg occupies? For a moment in history my whole dog was in that space and I was terrified. We went to the dog park, like we so often do, and Allie opened the side door of our minivan and our dog Luna leapt into the sunlight at the base – but she was not narrow enough.

Somehow she got her head and shoulders through but couldn’t get her hips through. Thankfully Allie didn’t close the door as soon as she saw Luna semi-leap out – otherwise…

Luna wasn’t hurt, just stuck. She was concerned of course. She looked around with worried eyes. Attempts at pulling her back into van failed, attempts at pushing her through the space led to a small cry of complaint.

My brain flew fast, as did Allie’s – do we call 911? Will they use the jaws of life to destroy our van door and rescue our family member?

Do we call a vet? Will they break our dog’s hip to wedge her through the space?

Do we call Dodge, the maker of our van, who might send someone to remove the door carefully, freeing our pet?

I decided to call Dodge – I figured they offer us 24/7 roadside assistance and they seemed most likely to extricate our dog with the least amount of pain to both her and my wallet. I pet my dog, assured her everything would be alright, got up and opened the passenger door to get the number. Luna I guess decided it was just time to go and determinedly forced herself through the space and ran off into the dog park. Huge tufts of dog fur trailed in her wake, the only damage from her brush with being squished.