It could be worse
Thursday, January 29 2004
Posted by brockp

Tonight I spent a couple of hours with Todd walking around in the rain on Commercial Drive between Broadway and Napier. We were postering for the Percy Schmeiser benefit at Café Deux Soleils and I must admit to feeling pretty pleased with myself as we relaxed listening to Wilco and The Loose Furs afterwards, despite being somewhat cold and damp. There is a certain satisfying feeling that goes along with wheat pasting a poster you like onto some public slab of concrete or steel.

That being said, the pleasant feeling faded very quickly this evening as Ben pointed out that there was no date on the poster we'd left on the kitchen table. We must have pasted or tapegunned 75-100 posters which, though beautifully designed, had no indication of when the advertised event was supposed to take place !

This falls on an already somewhat jaded Brock, who is definitely less idealistic when it comes to the spirit of local bands and musicians and music scene in general. A favourite pastime of mine is to gripe about all the lame self serving aspects of the music business. Everyone seems to be competing for the same small number of prizes—get signed, get gigs, get good press, getdistribution, get laid or whatever. Get get get.

It occurred to me that if I asked myself what I have to give rather how can I get that thing I want, I might find myself with infinitely less competition ! After all, even a competition for who could give the most would be of benefit to everyone.

Well it turns out this is a good theory, but hard to put in practise. Somehow it boils down to supply and demand like dear old dad tried so vehemently to make me understand. Fact is, you have to have something to give which people want, otherwise you are just bothering people. I think this is how big bogus corporations like Monsanto get away with what they do in the first place. Sure, lots of people agree that blatantly self-serving one's own interests is bad, and harming others in the process is really bad. But in my experience, many of us are just like miniature Monsantos. What pisses us off the most about them is not what they get away with but that they get away with it when we cannot.

I don't know. What do you think ?

I am reminded of Steve Earle's lyrics cheating on our taxes is the best that we can do in that song Amerika v 6.0. When you actually try to do something that is outside of the realm of mainstream capitalism or whatever we should call the world of Entertainment Tonight on tv followed by brushing teeth and going to bed to wake up for another day of the same ratrace working for the man, it turns out that you are swimming against a very strong current.

Maybe it is impossible to avoid being self-serving. I've often wondered about how some politicians can sleep at night knowing they've just privatised some important public holding, or given permission to log some 400 year old trees, or cut welfare to single moms or whatever, while enjoying Christmas vacations in Hawaii. I am pretty sure they think they are being quite clever though. Its the old human nature argument. We are all selfish and lazy, so why not just admit it and stop being so high and mighty, why don't you (I)? Those guys take it a step further and say, "Might as well make the best of things" which probably translates to, "Might as well be on the winning side."

I'd like to end somewhat less negatively, but it is hard. I am feeling really bummed about this stuff. I guess I'd better get a sharpie and put a date on the posters for Main St...

David vs. Goliath
Friday, January 16 2004
Posted by brockp

I'm organising a benefit gig for Saturday, February 7th at the Café Deux Soleils (2096 Commercial Dr.) which Todd and I have dubbed David vs. Goliath: A benefit for Percy Schmeiser vs. Monsanto.

Percy's legal fees for the struggle against the notorious multinational corporation suing him amount to over $65000. Monsanto's GMO roundup-ready Canola found its way onto Percy's farm against his wishes and has effectively wiped out his 50 years of seed saving and selecting. His reward for this loss was a suit from Monsanto for unpaid royalties.

The case will be ruled on at the Supreme Court of Canada later this month and will likely set a precedent for future litigations - see Percy's website for more info).

Our benefit show will get underway around 9pm with a viewing of MSK productions' Deconstructing Supper, a documentary on GM food which features Percy. Around 9:30pm the Cormorants will kick the music off, followed by Manik 1derful, the Haida Cree emcee, and guests. Door proceeds will be donated to the Fight Genetically Altered Food Fund in Humboldt, SK.

Hope to see you all there !

Mail some bread
Friday, January 9 2004
Posted by brockp

Hey all - sorry its been so long since I've blogged here. I'll go into more detail later about why that was but for now I just wanted to post a link to the Council of Canadians website. A lot of important precedents are being set right now regarding the future of agriculture in Canada which basically amount to who will control our food supply. If this is of concern to you, check out the following link.

More soon...