November 28th, 2006
The Gentle Lady, Scorned
Be ready, Christopher. The Crowd will be waiting
for you. Like any witch frenzied by a stumping
lover, she’ll be angry. She’ll gossip
hatefully about your bastard children, impugn
your cocksmanship (*),
steal your notebook, and cackle bitterly when
you slip. If you actually bleed, she’ll
chortle mightily, spattering rumours of infidelity:
yours, your Christmas child, and mostly, your
cuckolding wife, that galumphing whore. One nasty
babblemonger maintains that Mingus Tourette and
Unkle Pat, among others, hosted her in partisan
fashion whilst watching you bravely falter ‘gainst
the Hurricane. They spread tales of buttered crackers,
hockey pucks and wicked recurve sticks, all under
light of welding torch. But. Only rumours. Pay
no attention, while the keening grows, for your
errant head upon the argent platter. Play on deafly,
if you can. She loved you once. But alas, no more.
MT, Esquire
November 22nd, 2006
Winter Letter to Bernard
Dear Bernard,
Hope you are not drinking sand. When the water
riots begin, arrive with your gasmask. And a police
baton, at the least. Stay close to the buildings
when the tear gas starts.
Your theories of Foucault and Derrida are interesting,
but you know philosophy can be boiled down to
the twin balls dangling between a silverback's
twitching thighs. Shaved apes, all of us. Good
and evil — priestly constructs.
As for the pity - who doesn't pity the Big Smoke?
They deserve our tears. Our empathy. For the twin-tower
envy. Oh shadow of the Apple.
At least with the 'Chuk, we've zero pretension
of being anything like New York. Hell, we don't
even want to be Calgary. We'd hate to be Cowtown.
We like the dark Novembers, crusted snow, oiled
green in hand, knives on the streets, breath heaving
thick in the air under the shadow of big iron.
November 15th, 2006
To the Bone
(EDMONTON) Edmonton writer Thomas Trofimuk is
set to launch his new novel, Doubting
Yourself to the Bone, in a Whyte Avenue bar
this coming Thursday.
Doubting Yourself to the Bone has garnered
rave reviews both locally and nationally. It is,
according to Trofimuk, a book about the forensics
of grief. “It’s an emotional and spiritual
CSI. The pathology of a broken relationship, with
whisky and Buddhist monks in the mix.”
The launch takes place Thursday, November 16th
at The Kazbar Lounge, under Yianni’s Taverna
on Whyte Avenue. Fezzes are not mandatory but
appreciated
Thursday, November 16th, 2006 7:30 p.m.
Yianni’s Taverna, Kazbar Lounge
10444 - 82 Ave
November 9th, 2006
The Farewell and the Pity (w/ Reverb)
I certainly used to malign Rumsfeld on this
website. Sadly, we won't have him to kick around
anymore. Makes me think: one certainly shouldn't
wish Sudden Retirement Death Syndrome on anyone.
So - good luck with your winter years, oh master
of the quagmire. I wish you several decades of
bitterly watched West Wing reruns. Cold
soup in hand, Nixon on the telephone, shame of
your children.
In literary news:
Read an article in the
Toronto Star bemoaning the lack of novels
mythically situated in the Big Smoke. Had to laugh
a bit. It's a topic that's been chewed over in
E-Ville recently, with the release of Babiak's
The
Garneau Block. There's not enough books set
here, historically. Though a new generation is
aiming to turning that around. Now we have Babiak's
Block, Minister Faust's Coyote Kings,
and of course, Robert Kroetsch's Studhorse
Man. So, we're on our way.
Yet, I remember yelling at Thezska over a backroom
karaoke bar's pool table that he was a lucky motherfucker
to live in a city cloaked in Ondaatje's Skin
of a Lion. But it seems that's not enough.
Not only do the Eastern bastards face the fear
of freezing in the dark, but also doing so in
ignominious literary anonymity. The pity.
The pity.
In other, vaguely related multimedia reverb:
Simons
wrote an article about the cross-marketing
site for Babiak's new serial,
The Book of Stanley. The site is called leaptv.com,
'a hip mix of lifestyle and current affairs'.
You will want to subscribe to this channel because
of its nightly 11pm show. See for yourself. Check
the schedule.
November 7th, 2006
elephants on the loose
Apparently, humans are actually turning
elephants into psychopaths.
This was in the Journal over the weekend, as well.
It's a good read, and hopefully, a timely political
metaphor.
November 1st, 2006
murderville
So, after the triple capper on the weekend,
we're up to 32 murders for the year. Not bad.
In striking distance of the record.
Obviously, the reason that we're a little behind
is the play-off run. A little rioting, some heartfelt
high-fives, and that Christmas feeling in June
kept the cannons in the pants. But, that's all
done. And the snow's flying. And so's the red
ice.
Not a bad theory, actually.
But What Happened Last Month? By God, Find Out
Here!
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November 2006