Alberta's Minister of Arts and Culture Tweets, "...we are trulu blessed."

Indeed we are trulu blessed to not only to live in this great country- as trulu blessed as I am trulu proud of my Anglo-Saxon heritage. A heritage of ancestors who were, for the most part, sufficiently fluent in the English language to at least string together a proper English sentence. Judging by Linday's Twitter home page, fluency in written English is somewhat of an obstacle for our Province's Minister of Arts and Culture.

I think today I'll heed the advice of Mr. Blackett and enjoy myself safely from behind the keyboard of my PC, within the sanctuary of my 450 square foot abode in downtown Edmonton, adding fuel to the fires of political rebellion sprigging from the spongy muskeg of the vast northern wilderness to the craggy outcroppings of the foothills of this majestic province. 

The fact that eloquence is not a strong suit for Alberta's Progressive Conservative party is obviated by examples like the one above of Blackett's "dudebombs", or Mr. Stelmach's useless hand-wringing, lullaby speeches. 

Like my own seeming inability to hold down a steady job, we all have our own weaknesses. Depending on what your post is in society, some shortcomings are acceptable; if you're an English teacher,  for example, it doesn't matter much if you're baffled by Boolean Algebra. If you're an accountant, it's not going to be expected of you to quote famous philosophers throughout the day. If you're a provincial minister - of Arts & Culture no less - is it too much to expect you demonstrate parlance in at least one of the official languages at a minimum of a grade 12 level? 

Let's examine(d) a few of Mr. Blackett's Twitter entries together(s):

I wouldn't accept such a grammatical catastrophe from most ten year olds! You're in a PUBLIC OFFICE of the Commonwealth, Sir! I invite you to drag my feet through the coals, but... 

How about this somewhat cryptic entry:

 

I know for me, seeing piles of reports on a desk always fills me with a certain amount of glee. They're capable of spurring an even greater sense of joyousness when you can actually understand the language that they're written in! From this particular entry, I can't help but deduce that this is an obvious and classic example of a fight or flight response: See work = hide out in Calgary.

The more of Mr. Blackett's tweets I read, the more incensed I become. Our "Minister of Arts and Community Spirit" is lavishly travelling around to all kinds of events on the taxpayer dime in some air conditioned luxury car and probably dining out at some fancy affair every night! While I would presume at least that he's a good and personable fellow, (singularly the most important trait of any politician) I cannot help but fail to see how he's of any particular benefit to Alberta's cultural image (or" community spirit"). Maybe I'm wrong or ignorant about Mr. Blackett's professional accolades. Publicly pointing out what he perceives as being "shit" in regard to  whatever creative content he was referring to hardly got a mixed reception here in the province, if I'm not mistaken.   

Great, great, great. Wow... everything is so great when you've got a high salaried position demanding nothing from you beyond trotting around events and tweeting about them inarticulately. Polite words could never  express the outright ire boiling inside of me when I think of how I actually voted for these yahoos. Ted Morton is so far the only member of Ed's old boy's commie club who even seems capable of speaking convincingly - even if is only spinning some confounded yarn about green really being blue!

Someone throw me a frickin' bone here!

Dear Readers

Hey folks... it's the King of Empty Promises here. Just heard an inside ad from a popular, local, right-wing, AM talk-radio station seeking a writer for, I think, writing ad copy. They want someone with a background in marketing and communication... of course... and of course they wouldn't want some pan-fried unpredictable, horsepuck-selling free agent like this strange benevolent cat working spin for their corporate / business sponsors' agendas, would they? While I may be a powerful creative force in the minds of many, I am also a bit of a passive aggressive wild man with a penchant for skipping the light fantastic; in a moderately hard-core way though, if you will.

You know, Dear Readers, that it has become painfully obvious to all of my friends, my family, and most importantly, me, that I am incapable of handling so much as a provincial work-kindergarten-welfare program, let alone a straight job day in and day out. I've demonstrated this lack of caring to not only myself but to a multitude of employers and teachers throughout the years by exhibiting behavioural patterns such as: struggling to be on time for things... skipping classes... staying up all night... being generally irresponsible... making inappropriate or inflammatory statements... jeopardizing production quotas... fostering rebellious ideas amongst disgruntled co-workers I’ve only just met... ignoring redundant make-work tasks assigned by superiors who's only motivation it seems is to flex their managerial muscle in the face of my outright defiance.

I just can’t bring myself to jive with the whole modern-day corporate movement that I see as a feeble attempt to redefine common sense or somehow regulate instinct. Everyone has just got to lighten up a little, stop all the infighting and gang-up on the bankers.

Can I change? Is it too late for me to seize the yoke of reality and really do something with my life? Heck, I feel that I’m just a measly spring chicken at the age of thirty-three. My life is beautiful. I cook fancy meals for myself from time to time, and if I’m not enjoying a cigarette with my black coffee, you’re quite likely to find me scouring public opinion on CBC, flirting with women on Plenty Of Fish, or working on a new video or song idea, but I need to get paid. Maybe I could be a top album cover designer. Here’s one I came up with last night – band name and all:

THE UNDERSTANDERS: That is the name I shall call my band. I like it. Has a sort of retro college radio band edge to it.

I’ve been getting out for many a long walks with the dogs throughout the days and evenings. Here in Edmonton, it’s imperative for us to capitalize on the sunny days of our somewhat brief sunny season. I’ve actually enjoyed the spectacular thunderstorms we’ve been treated to this summer.

Edmonton only had to shiver through nary a dozen ridiculously cold days last winter, it seems to me – and the winter before was rather mild compared with the last decade at least. I can recall weeks on end of temperatures hovering close to the minus forty centigrade mark just ten to fifteen years ago; factor in the wind chill on those bone chilling cold days and the out of doors becomes an arena that is downright hostile to the point that perilous pneumonic death awaits you should you find yourself not well appointed with some substantial thermal layers of clothing. From my own experience, animal hides serve as the best defence against the heatless wintery nights. Brrrrr!

Coronation Street

Coronation Street; that's where I want to live! Watching the last batch of episodes got my tears welling heavier than the incinerator load at the abortion clinic after a power outage!

It seems that one of my decidedly favorite faces from the show (and truly I love them all) Umed (Harish Patel) may be leaving the pages... that's the impression that I get anyhow. If Patel is indeed nearing the end of his term with Coronation Street then I look forward to seeing any future projects he might appear in. Does anyone out there know the scoop on this guy? What did he do before Corrie?