Rolling around Vice Magazine's website today, I watched an interesting episode of their online video-blog (I guess) that they call Vice TV, or something like that.
It's usually an excellent blog, as well as an excellent website. I find that their politics often don't mesh very well with my own, but on the whole, the people at Vice are able to steer away from any direct political criticism and are clear to point out that the opinions are those of the writers and not so much of the entire magazine. That, and their wicked sense of humour and political incorrectness, saves them from my otherwise harsh criteria and oh-so-openminded Conservative demeanour.
I kid. But back to my point, this certain video-blog entry features an interview with a no-name model and a semi-name photographer who goes by Richard Kern. (Before you click, I'll warn you that the video does contain a fair amount of frontal nudity by the model, although I don't imagine anybody is going to find bare breasts shocking at this day and age.)
The model goes on to briefly describe her life before modelling, coming from Sarasota Springs, and subsequently being freed of the "repressiveness" of said hometown. I wonder: how is it possible for so many young people of today to feel to constantly repressed? This young woman details her trips to India to study meditation with a Swami, and the crowds she fell in and out of, most of which involved some kind of seedy scene or illegal drug use.
And then she mimicks her mother's hysterical shrieking, who wonders why her daughter isn't on the cover of Vogue rather than modelling nude for a strange, somewhat ingratiating middle-aged photographer. Hell, is it that bad that your mother would want something for you a little better than what you're currently doing? I'm not saying a parent shouldn't be respectful, to a degree, of her child's decisions, but to say that you experienced repression growing up in a mid-west US town and that you had to "escape" your parents by going to India...
...grow up. I'm sure India is a wonderful place, but the youth of today seem to think that any place other than here is so much better. You are not repressed, ok? You are dissatisfied, but show me a teen who hasn't experienced dissatisfaction at some point. The only difference is, some people are intelligent enough to stick it out instead of becoming a permanent Lost Boy. Your own sense of personal responsibility comes from enduring a tough situation and making it better, not changing the scene if it ain't your bag, man.
Don't abuse a foreign culture as a solution to your teenaged angst; don't adopt a new religion or philosophy at the drop of a hat simply because your parents have never heard of it. It's insulting not only to that group of people who practice is legitimately, but also to your own identity, which deserves to be hard-won and not changed like a pair of underwear.
Post-Script: To see all of ViceMag online, click here. I highly recommend the Dos and Don'ts page, which can be found at the top of the homepage.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Not only do these colours run, sirens scream to clear their way
The city of Toronto has recently decided to retract its motion to have all the magnetic "Support the Troops" decals removed from its emergency vehicles. The decals, which had been on the firetrucks and ambulances since the beginning of the Canadian presence in Afghanistan, had recently come under scrutiny due to the supposedly "controversial nature" of the war campaign.
So, in an effort to remain as broadly supportive of every strata of Torontonian culture like a proper "moderate" Canuck, the mayor and his cohorts decided that all the vehicles would be stripped of the decals, lest they offend someone.
Never mind that the emergency service workers of TO might feel a kinship with the few other brave people willing to risk their lives, never mind that it's simply a show of support and not necessarily support for the war. Knee-jerk reactions in the name of moderation and tolerance have never been so poorly disguised.
Thankfully, the motion was overrulled due to immense public outrage. It seems the shrinking, shrieking minority wasn't able to kick and scream its way out of this ugly condescension. So score a (minor) point for the good guys.
Then the city issues this disgusting press release, deeming it appropriate to mention that "all of Canada's men and women serving in the military have the unwavering support of all Torontonians."
So, in an effort to remain as broadly supportive of every strata of Torontonian culture like a proper "moderate" Canuck, the mayor and his cohorts decided that all the vehicles would be stripped of the decals, lest they offend someone.
Never mind that the emergency service workers of TO might feel a kinship with the few other brave people willing to risk their lives, never mind that it's simply a show of support and not necessarily support for the war. Knee-jerk reactions in the name of moderation and tolerance have never been so poorly disguised.
Thankfully, the motion was overrulled due to immense public outrage. It seems the shrinking, shrieking minority wasn't able to kick and scream its way out of this ugly condescension. So score a (minor) point for the good guys.
Then the city issues this disgusting press release, deeming it appropriate to mention that "all of Canada's men and women serving in the military have the unwavering support of all Torontonians."
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
News/Talk/Radio
This one is a bit harder to pin down, because it's partly a personal story as well as news-relevant.
On my way to work this morning, I was listening to JACK 92.5. I'm not sure if it's familiar to any of my St. Catharines friends, but I imagine it might be since it's a Toronto station, and probably reaches our smoggy shores in Southern Ontario.
The voice on the radio (because I'm not aware of the personality, or even if it was a Public Service Announcement) was speaking about the recent news of the video ABC had attained showing an Al-Quaeda suicide-bomber graduation. It's literally what it sounds like: graduation had come for hundreds of now certified suicide bombers in the blind attempt at worldwide Islamic rule, or jihad (keeping in mind that, as we're constantly reminded, that jihad literally means "internal struggle." How delicate.)
Some of these "graduates" are as young as 12 years old, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to many who are even halfway aware of the news flowing out of the Middle East every day.
That's awful enough as it is. But the radio announcer decided to up the ante by coupling that story with the seemingly unconnected story of the Hwy. 400 accident that occured Monday. The crash was a result of three young men drag racing on the highway. A transport truck swerved to avoid them and rolled, killing the truck driver. The three men have been charged.
Normally I'm not a terribly reactive person - I've come to expect the hypocrisy and utter stupidity of most of the Canadian news outlets that insist on turning a blind eye to all that could be considered even remotely "unbecoming" of the Canadian identity. But this certain radio DJ attempted to draw a connection by saying that, if a parent send their child into the streets with a nice car and a licence, then they are essentially doing no more than unleashing something akin to an adolescent suicide bomber into the GTA.
Hear that? Install a few speed humps along residential streets and put more cops on the highway, because we are currently at risk of teenage death-squads, not clad in Hamas colours and high-velocity explosives, but something far more sinister: Honda Civics.
The idea that this man could possibly compare an ideology (that has a vast global network that ceases to slow its growth) of death-cultism, one that is committed to the destruction of democratic law and civil society, is not only absurd, it's insulting in a manner that leaves me almost speechless.
And then, we get news saying that Stephen Harper and the American CIA are attempting to supress the graduation story, regardless of its harrowing portentions. Whether they are or not is irrelevent; the media in Canada and the US has been supressing this kind of information for years in the attempt to appear "multicultural" and "culturally tolerant." It's the jihadist's anger with the American occupation, it's the terrible conditions they live under, it's only a small percentage that believes in a violent jihad, etc etc. Well, some stories can't be excused away, and we're expected to be angry with the government for not acting sooner as we sit back and refuse to act at all. No, we'd rather think globally and act locally about the environment.
And they can't see their own hypocrisy.
We've done this to ourselves. Those adolescent time-bombs have been dispatched to NATO allied countries. That includes Canada. When it comes to being fearful of an explosion in Nathan Philip's Square, or the off-chance of a couple of irresponsible kids with a custom muffler, I know which one I'll be keeping my head up for.
On my way to work this morning, I was listening to JACK 92.5. I'm not sure if it's familiar to any of my St. Catharines friends, but I imagine it might be since it's a Toronto station, and probably reaches our smoggy shores in Southern Ontario.
The voice on the radio (because I'm not aware of the personality, or even if it was a Public Service Announcement) was speaking about the recent news of the video ABC had attained showing an Al-Quaeda suicide-bomber graduation. It's literally what it sounds like: graduation had come for hundreds of now certified suicide bombers in the blind attempt at worldwide Islamic rule, or jihad (keeping in mind that, as we're constantly reminded, that jihad literally means "internal struggle." How delicate.)
Some of these "graduates" are as young as 12 years old, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to many who are even halfway aware of the news flowing out of the Middle East every day.
That's awful enough as it is. But the radio announcer decided to up the ante by coupling that story with the seemingly unconnected story of the Hwy. 400 accident that occured Monday. The crash was a result of three young men drag racing on the highway. A transport truck swerved to avoid them and rolled, killing the truck driver. The three men have been charged.
Normally I'm not a terribly reactive person - I've come to expect the hypocrisy and utter stupidity of most of the Canadian news outlets that insist on turning a blind eye to all that could be considered even remotely "unbecoming" of the Canadian identity. But this certain radio DJ attempted to draw a connection by saying that, if a parent send their child into the streets with a nice car and a licence, then they are essentially doing no more than unleashing something akin to an adolescent suicide bomber into the GTA.
Hear that? Install a few speed humps along residential streets and put more cops on the highway, because we are currently at risk of teenage death-squads, not clad in Hamas colours and high-velocity explosives, but something far more sinister: Honda Civics.
The idea that this man could possibly compare an ideology (that has a vast global network that ceases to slow its growth) of death-cultism, one that is committed to the destruction of democratic law and civil society, is not only absurd, it's insulting in a manner that leaves me almost speechless.
And then, we get news saying that Stephen Harper and the American CIA are attempting to supress the graduation story, regardless of its harrowing portentions. Whether they are or not is irrelevent; the media in Canada and the US has been supressing this kind of information for years in the attempt to appear "multicultural" and "culturally tolerant." It's the jihadist's anger with the American occupation, it's the terrible conditions they live under, it's only a small percentage that believes in a violent jihad, etc etc. Well, some stories can't be excused away, and we're expected to be angry with the government for not acting sooner as we sit back and refuse to act at all. No, we'd rather think globally and act locally about the environment.
And they can't see their own hypocrisy.
We've done this to ourselves. Those adolescent time-bombs have been dispatched to NATO allied countries. That includes Canada. When it comes to being fearful of an explosion in Nathan Philip's Square, or the off-chance of a couple of irresponsible kids with a custom muffler, I know which one I'll be keeping my head up for.
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