It’s been two years without a car and I’m loving it. City driving can work you over emotionally and it can be impactful on your psyche. I see evidence of this every day. I was one of those enthusiastic 16 year olds out to get licensed at the earliest opportunity and I’ve owned a car for all these years but now I don’t. I walk. I jog. I take Uber / transit. I drive with a car sharing service and on the rare occasion I rent a vehicle for the weekend. Rarely I’ll also ride a rent a scooter (Neuron). While walking I sense the impatience and frustration of drivers. There are those who have their wheels turned toward you creeping forward as you traverse the cross walk. There are those who speed incessantly when given some breathing room between lights. There are those who follow too close. There are those who express their vanity in boutique or hot rod rides. There are motorcyclists annoying their neighbors with modded mufflers.
Robotic driving apparently is upon us with the google voice telling you how to get there. You now no longer need to think about your route as a potential distraction from the gridlock. A poll shows that Torontonians are seriously considering leaving the city due to congestion. Not all of you will have the luxury of going without a car but if it’s a possibility….you might consider it seriously. What is the cost of getting home after work and saying something stupid to your family out of frustration from your ride?
It’s quite interesting to listen to the mayor of Calgary talk water restrictions in lieu of the recent major water main fail. Naturally, the message of conservation is easily heard but for some it’s fallen on deaf ears because the utilization should have dropped more dramatically than it has.
For good reason the city has asked overtaxed taxpayers to help and we step forward but subconsciously we wonder why with water flowing abundantly through the city in two rivers that such a crisis has emerged. What has the city not done in anticipation of potential water main breaks? Why is it that the city has made decisions to increase urban sprawl via single family dwellings in face of obvious resource limitations and the smaller 21st century family unit? Why do we have office high rises empty in the downtown core thereby impeding the efficient utilization of infrastructure?
I hate to say it but civic generosity is decline and the relatively poor water conservation rate in Calgary in face of a crisis is indicative of the public’s lessening appetite for being neighborly. You see…the income disparity in Canada has grown. Those sensing an inequity wonder whether serving their neighbor any longer serves them altruistically, financially, with their higher power, or the greater good. They turn on the news and see a convicted criminal earn the nomination for a chance at the Presidency.
So when people are being told how to brush their teeth and skip flushes and scrape their plates without rinse, some will pause and ask…..what about those homeless people you walk by every day? What about the unenforced civil infractions? What about the closed swimming pools? What about the ridiculous tax payer funded public art? What about the bridge we didn’t need? What about frivolous debates amounting to nothing? What about the failure to regulate unnecessary noise? What about…..
It’s a perplexing phenomenon. We empathize with those who lack capacity but you’ve seen the ones who have been part of your company who on the surface have everything going on intellectually but then fail at logic when confronted with facts which contrast with their preferred ideology. Objectivity is lost when facts conflict with philosophical bias. Those transparent interpretive thinkers come away bemused / disappointed / shocked at the shortcoming of a friend or acquaintance who fails to connect events concisely through to conclusion and wonder if he / her too has been afflicted with online group think, paranoia, fear, or even subversive like resentment. A reference to the “deep state” has captured the imagination of flailing citizens reaching to grasp for reason of circumstance for misfortune, apathy, and an inertia laden lifestyle. Instead of looking within, the despondent gravitate to those looking to assuage. The affinity for fellowship amongst followers begins to define the persona leading to isolation and ultimately impenetrable borders of being. The aberrant becomes the norm. White becomes black and the reasonable take respite and artificial intelligence takes the stage
While you were watching the Oilers win game seven, I was at the movies taking in the tragic life of Amy Winehouse at Chinook Theatre. The best part was the phenomenal job done by Marisa Abela in the role. You really did pick up the veracity in Amy’s outlandish visceral personality but more astonishingly was the closeness in resembling her vocals – native accent aside.
The pundits of course are sounding off by the film’s shortcomings but the scene where she meets Blake is in and of itself worth the price of admission. Wouldn’t you all want to be as coy when by happenstance encounter a rising star sitting solo in a bar?
The striking affinity folks had with Winehouse was not only her amazing voice but her flaw filled persona from which fans found identify. The day labourer in us all sees a woman operating intuitively from instinct unbeknownst to consequences whilst we put fantasy first in a drama documentary pleading for an ultimate denouement other than her fate. Thankfully we were spared of a scene portraying her untimely death.
Marisa had spent months training her voice for this. Movie critics are all caught up in chronology, accuracy, and exploitation while missing the key success ingredient of the film, that being an Amy Winehouse characterization. The tragedy is worthy of publicity because her life and times were distinctive, emotionally wrought, colourful while dark, with lessons sewn sweepingly as her picturesque head dress.
Rex Murphy was a wordsmith, he possessed common sense, and he wasn’t beholden to other’s opinions and this is why I stood up and took notice whenever he spoke or penned an editorial. I also admire people who actually reach for the best words in order to express a point. His expression was the antipathy of those now so compelled to use the word “fcuk” in every grammatical form because they have been too lazy delve into the depths of the English language. Rex Murphy put context and pragmatism toward thought. He had capacity to empathise in every direction while articulating the best route forward cognizant that we can’t be everything to all people all of the time. Rex had instinct in knowing how not to go too far in presenting a position so that the audience had room to conceive for themselves. Rex coaxed you toward the dictionary because your English teacher may not have been as illustrious.
There was also a mystical kind of delivery because he operated with an intention to provoke. Satire was to be expected and the monotony of tone was purposeful so that he could catch you when the hyperbole went over your head. His thoughtfulness was etched throughout his piece in such a way that even the ardent with entrenched beliefs couldn’t help but be jostled.
Without the likes of Rex Murphy…we can and will descend to gutter like politics showcased south of our border.
