ELECTION POST-MORTEM
Drained. That's how we're feeling after voting not once but four times in the civic election.
How did we pull that off, you ask? Well, little did we know how influential we are. Peons that we are in this infinite universe, we were asked for our list of candidates from someone who openly admitted to being clueless about local politics- the massive number of names on the Vancouver civic ballot doesn't help-so who were we to say no. We gave them our list. Go forth and vote my friend, we said. Sharing-.
It makes us feel so warm and fuzzy inside. Do you think the unions, such as the teachers and firefighters, feel all tingly inside when they encourage people to vote their way?
Our clueless friend then shared our acrossthe-board list with other equally clueless family members who want to vote but have not paid enough attention to civic politics.
Sheesh, people, read your local community newspapers already.
Sadly, not all the people we selected were elected. Vision's Tim Stephenson got in and independent Sandy Garossino didn't. Come on, Vancouver. Shake things up already. All we can say is thank goodness Vision Vancouver didn't run a full slate of 10 candidates for council. It could have been all Vision all the time, given the results. And that wouldn't be any fun.
Oh, wait Vision does have seven out of 10 council spots. We might share certain ideals with Vision, a passing resemblance to Mayor Robertson and his love of going commando under a kilt, but we get uncomfortable when one party can do as they wish without any opposition. (Might we suggest looking at Canada's Stephen Harper majority, not to say Vision is anything like the Tory/Reform alliance. It's worrisome to say the least. It has been amusing, however, to read recent editorials in certain Canadian dailies, which endorsed the Harper team in the last federal election, trashing the illogical Harper omnibus crime bill and other initiatives. Seriously, what did those editorial writers think would happen with a Tory majority? They must have been on crack. But they'd better get off it quick or they're going to jail.)
Pressure is now on NPAers George Affleck and Elizabeth Ball, not to mention the Green Party's Adriane Carr to pipe up loudly and eloquently when Vision goes off the rails.
But back to Vancouver. Slate voting is for suckers, frankly. And that's how many Vancouverites voted. Another word for slate voting is laziness. Why didn't more sheeples just ask us for our list? We would have generously offered them a copy.
But are you wondering why it was Affleck, George and Ball, Elizabeth who were the only two NPAers elected alongside the Vision majority instead of NPA prolific political blogger Mike Klassen, who also had a bigger media profile than Affleck and Ball put together? This isn't to say Affleck or Ball won't do well in council (well, Ball wasn't exactly known for pushing bold ideas last time she was on council and she didn't make our cut), but could their election success be because their surnames, which start with A and B respectively, were at the top of the ballot? Call it the alphabet syndrome or another form of laziness on the part of Vancouver voters who couldn't read further down the ballot list.
1. Like our "loose" one per cent raise, Dance In Vancouver only happens every two years, and showcases innovative contemporary dance by local artists, with eight companies performing excerpts of new works and recent hits in four mixed programs. This year's edition, which runs Nov. 23 to 26 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre, features performances from battery opera, Jennifer Clarke, MACHiNENOiSY, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, the plastic orchid factory, Shay Kuebler, The 605 Collective and Wen Wei Dance.
For tickets, call 604-684-2787 or go to ticketstonight.ca. More info at thedancecentre.ca.
2. Not only does she look good in beige, Toronto's Sarah Slean brings her piano-pop stylings to the Rio Theatre Nov. 23 in support of her Joel Plaskettproduced double album Land and Sea. For tickets, go to ticketmaster.ca.
3. Set in the early 1950s, Fighting Chance Productions' The Temperamentals sheds light on a little-known era in the history of the gay rights movement. Directed by Ryan Mooney, Jon Marans' play tells the story of two men-communist Harry Hay and Viennese refugee and designer Rudi Gernreich-as they fall in love while building the Mattachine Society, the fi rst gay rights organization in pre-Stonewall U.S. Described by Mooney as "Mad Men meets Milk," The Temperamentals runs Nov. 24 to Dec. 3 at PAL Studio Theatre. For tickets, call 604-684-2787 or go to ticketstonight.ca. Info at fi ghtingchanceproductions.ca.
4. Legendary stoner rock band Kyuss was known for their lengthy desert jam sessions and spawning such bands as Queens of the Stone Age and Fu Manchu. Now they've reunited, minus QOTSA's Josh Homme, and playing the Commodore Nov. 23. We're getting a contact high just typing this.
