Mark Rothko via http://victoriatopping.blogspot.com/2011/04/rothko-moment.html

As far as communities go, the theatre community is a superstitious bunch. The most well known display of this trait is the taboo of saying good luck to a performer before a show. They would rather be told to break a leg. This one I know but, somehow, after 3 years of living with a theatre major and the daughter of an actor, I failed to learn or at least failed to retain any knowledge of another famous theatre taboo; the “Scottish Curse”. As I read out the stage credits of the lead actor, I learned my lesson. Among his credits was a stint in Macbeth.

In my own defense, if this curse is such a big deal actors should not be able to list the play among their credits. As far as I am concerned, that is just asking for trouble. Doesn’t everyone read the program aloud to their friends?

A little Googling after the fact has since taught that the antidote is a quote from Macbeth for someone to say, “‘Angels and ministers of grace defend us.’ Then the offender must leave the house, turn around widdershins (counterclockwise) three times, swear and knock to be readmitted.”

My companion looked at me aghast but did not call for any angels or ministers. I didn’t turn widdershins even once. So, naturally, disaster befell the production.

http://www.revitalizedesplaines.org/2009/11/now-on-youtube-1982-des-plaines-theatre.html

A gigantic screen that was used as a vehicle to change between scenes fell off it’s runners and the play had to be halted while four people tried to coerce the sail back into it’s tiny crevasse without dropping it onto the rapt audience in the process.

This could be chalked up to going to see the first preview of a show, but I did say the word and then…could it really be coincidence?

I overheard someone behind me say that it rid the theatre of its magic and mystery when things went wrong with the set. I don’t know that that was a negative thing for me. Particularly, since it was a play about the visual arts and the very next scene contained a reference to the adverse effects of bringing up the lights on a stage set. The line was apt but inaccurate. The lights up, behind the scenes moment gave the production a more physical presence. It gave more importance to the stage and set than the magic of a performance without a hitch would have allowed it to have otherwise.

Perhaps I will use this weapon strategy again the next time I attend the theatre. Watch out!

47 kilometers of West Coast awesomeness!

Last week, John and I went on an adventure in the wilderness. After weeks of accumulating supplies, preparing menus, going on test hikes, and becoming far too acquainted with the staff at MEC, we set out on the Juan De Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. Mentally – and somewhat physically – prepared for the 47 km, 5 day hike, what follows is a daily synopsis of the ups and downs (literally and metaphorically), our observations about community we found on the trail, and some stories and anecdotes that are just, well, funny.

Bear Beach looks good early in the morning.

Day 1: China Beach to Bear Beach

Filled with excitement and anxious to get started, we threw on our packs and headed towards the trail from the China Beach parking lot … only to be stopped in our tracks by a number of minor, let’s say, incidents. Incident #1: John realizing his water bladder, attached to his backpack, is empty … which subsequently made sense when we noticed that the back seat of the car was soaked. Incident #2: Michelle checking her pocket for the map to give it one last look, only to realize it’s nowhere to be found. Good thing it turned up … in her father-in-law’s pocket! Incident #3: Backcountry camping fees? Strictly enforced and payable at the start of the trail? Needless to say, we knew nothing of backcountry camping fees. To add to the confusion, we received five different answers from five different people about how we could pay and how much it was – luckily, the parents-in-law come to the rescue, making up for the near-fiasco with the map. Despite the multiple incidents, we head out on the trail (half an hour later than expected), arriving safe and sound about 4 hours later at beautiful Bear Beach.

This was one of the 15 or so times that Michelle walked up during the Day 2 experience. Also, love the pink!

Day 2: Bear Beach to Chin Beach

By 10am we had packed up our wicked awesome camp site – complete with giant table – and were striking out on the trail behind a group of Japanese tourists, Team Texas and a hardcore young man who was, apparently, doing the entire trail in three days. The kid was moving fast.

For seven hours – over about 12 kilometers – John and I hiked up and over about 15 different headlands. This basically meant walking up for about 150-200 meters, looking around at the gorgeous, lush and spectacular scenery, and then walking down for about 150-200 meters. And then we crossed a creek. And then we did it all over again. Other than expelling a combined 30 liters of sweat and starting to feel our packs weighing on our shoulders in achey new ways, this part of the trail was an achievement of epic proportions with very little collatoral damage to our bodies, minds and/or souls. By 7pm we settled into a delicious meal of quinoa next to a modest little fire and watched seagulls feast on shellfish under a misty sunset.

The 16 kilometer marker was a long, long, long time coming. Mostly because we either missed marker 15 or it's missing along the trail. Needless to say, we stopped for lunch here.

Day 3: Chin Beach to Sombrio Beach

MICE! That’s right. Focusing a lot – perhaps too much – on nefarious bears and cougars, we underestimated the chewy vigour of some other four-legged creatures who live on Vancouver Island’s West Coast. During the night, a gang of wild mice gnawed through our packs in search of delicious treats. Luckily, no trail mix or my candies were harmed.

This hike was similar to – but not the same as – day two. We went up, up, up a lot right away, but there wasn’t as much repetition. Also, a kilometer of the hike took place along about a flat and groomed old logging road. Quite a nice respite!

Arriving at Sombrio Beach, John and I learned a lesson about “maps” and “distances” at Sombrio. The 20.7 kilometers listed on the map got us to Sombrio Point, not the beach itself. No, to get to the beach we hiked with our tired legs (in utter silence, which says a lot) along a sheer cliff, through some slippery, smelly muck and up, over and around two coves. Though the trail wasn’t actually all that technical, this is the place where – because of sheer fatigue – we could’ve died quite easily because of one little misstep (or perhaps because we let our guard down against the roaming packs of radioactive ninja mice that the Juan de Fuca Trail might possibly yield).

Oh, and Sombrio is the place where we started having deeper conversations with our new friends, the Texans, who were particularly impressed by the awesomeness of our campsite and my very pink hiking attire.

John relaxes by our very awesome campsite and even more awesome fire at Sombrio Beach.

Day 4: Sombrio Beach to Payzant Creek

Before leaving Sombrio we stumbled across a family of sea otters.

Waking up to the sound of crashing waves might be the best sound. Ever. Follow that with a delicious Spanish Frittata breakfast (thanks, MEC!), coffee, and a flawless pack-up, and we found ourselves setting out happily for an apparently “moderate” (according to aforementioned “map”), albeit long (13 km), day. The day was, actually, quite moderate – if one were to compare it to the gruelling terrain of the previous two days. Compared to day one, it was definitely harder and almost twice as long.

The hike itself was gorgeous. We left the comfort of the coastline for the more mysterious woods, finding ourselves surrounded by old growth trees and cooler temperatures. Setting up camp in the middle of a rainforest, mist and sunshine streaming through the myriad of trees, was one of the memorable moments of the trip. Team Texas wandered in a few hours after us – we felt a bit better about how incredibly sore we were after seeing them limp and drag themselves into the campsite. As we weren’t allowed fires in the woods, Day 4 was an early night – we were asleep no later than 9:30pm (which was probably a good thing, as it allowed our bodies to recuperate from the pain we had inflicted upon them).

The towering trees around Payzant Creek!

Day 5: Payzant Creek to Botanical Beach

A bittersweet day – a mere 7 km and we would be back in the real world! While we were looking forward to a homecooked meal and mostly, well, not smelling, it was sad leaving the calm, relaxing and awe-inspiring wilderness. This short four hour hike out, with lots of boardwalks and more and more hikers as we got closer to Botanical Beach, included a permit-check by a BC Parks Ranger/Warden/Guide/Hero as well as many fun chats with our Texan friends as well as Jonathan, a lone hiker from Winnipeg who was just downright delightful.

 Final Reflections

Since monkeys jumped down from trees, crossed the svannah, killed all the dinosaurs, and turned into people we’ve had a very interesting relationship with nature. We’ve worshipped, groomed, destroyed, restored, protected, developed, and celebrated the Earth during our time here. And that might be the coolest thing about getting out into nature and away from so much urbanity – a simple and fun five days in the woods is enough to remind any city dweller that people are a part of the natural environment and it’s a part of us. Taking time to appreciate this relationship is as important as it is enjoyable.

Thanks, Juan de Fuca Trail for being so darn enjoyably natural!

We experience the Wonderful World of Nature / our Rental Car

driving is king

Driving is fun.  There is relatively little traffic in town and the main highway between Kelowna and Penticton swoops widely around the lake shore.  A speed of 100 km/h or more is easy to safely maintain.  The average resident drives 35000 km/year [vs. a 14100 km/year as a province-wide average!].

Recent urban growth has focused on highway-oriented strip malls with panhandle suburbs on the hillsides, two of the worst culprits for massively increasing greenhouse gas emissions.  Human-to-human community building is difficult at best with these ex-urban patterns.

An individualist political agenda that minimizes personal income taxes and social expenditure makes sense to isolated monocultures of individuals.

Big White People with Golf Shirts looking at Big Boats

big boats are good; bigger boats are better

The lake has a huge psychological presence; boats are a huge part of life.  Boating does not mean sailing, kayaking, or rowing.  Massive rigs are required to wakeboard or booze cruise.  The faster and bigger the better.  The poor ride dirt bikes or ATVs.  A carbon-centric lifestyle means an average individual carries additional kilograms of body weight; mass that makes low-carbon walking or biking still more difficult.

A population that depends on the hyper-consumption of fossil fuels for daily routine and recreation does not appreciate a carbon tax, or understand subsidizing public transit.

golf shirts = fashion

Male fashion is dominated by misshapen corporate golf shirts and khakis.  Pop the collar if you want to be authentic.  Organic cotton shirts, re-used vintage pants or locally-tailored, trim suits are verbodden.

Golf shirts should be worn when golfing.  Corporate golf shirts should be worn when golfing with that corporation.  Wearing this outside of these important moments indicates a lack of imagination and creativity.

Imagination is not typically associated with political conservatism.

Kelowna is Anglo-Canadian white

Racial and cultural diversity is low in Kelowna.  The only non-Anglo Canadian culture I observed was drunken separatist Quebec fruit pickers.  This is unlikely to encourage cross-cultural tolerance, immigration friendly policies or support for a distinct french presence within a united Canada.

In short, this Vancouverite now understands why progressive politics have a hard time in the interior.  Urban patterns encourage isolation from the community of human suffering and facilitates the influence of traditional media.  An excessive personal dependence on fossil fuels derails the environmental agenda.  Low cultural diversity confirms long-held beliefs in the correctness of ones opinions.

And boy, does Ron Cannon, the Conservative MP for Kelowna look good in a golf shirt.

Solar/Wind powered marine system

“Sustainability”, “low emissions”, “saving fuel” – these are the buzz words in global shipping circles these days. With jacked up oil prices and pressure on ports to “Green” their operations, ship owners are frantically casting about for new technologies to lower the footprint of their vessels. Basically, the key players are getting innovative  both for the good of the planet and their pocket books too. This was the dominant message coming out of the Baltic and International Maritime Council’s General Meeting held last week in Vancouver.

It was no coincidence that this old boy’s maritime club held its first North American pow wow in green champion Vancouver, whose world class port is gamely singing from the same sustainable song book. For two days,  I sat in on enthused discussion between shippers, demographers, climate change academics and ex-heads of state on how shipping is doing and and where it still needs to go to lower its footprint.   The main consensus was that the economic benefits of going green are irrefutable; the technology is almost there to make it happen; keeping pace with demand, however, is questionable.

Interestingly, shipping is the most efficient form of  transportation on the planet, accounting for over 90 per cent of global goods movement, but just 3% of transportation’s fossil fuel emissions. Local presenters from Teekay, Seaspan, Robert Allan Naval Architects, and BC Ferries championed their efforts to lower these emissions even more through innovation in hull and motor design. The importance of better trained crew to operate more sophisticated vessels and new fuel management challenges were also emphasized.

Expect more of these ships on the horizon, cutting up to 35% in fuel use.

Tall Ships in English Bay, June 7, 2011

Basically, the technology is out there to create a greener world fleet and reduce its carbon emissions by up to 20% in the next decade. But is all this will and know-how a case of too little too late? World population continues to explode creating immense pressure to churn out more ships cheaply and quickly keeping the eye of many shippers on short term necessities rather than long term environmental goals.

Almost in pseudo recognition of the dilemma in which shippers currently find themselves – forced to navigate the contradictory imperatives of growth vs. green – these two beauties sailed unannounced into English Bay last week in stark, sustainable contrast to  the diesel monsters behind them.

Taking care of your sexual health is sexy. That’s the message being promoted as Options for Sexual Health, Canada’s largest non-profit provider of sexual health services, unveils its new ad campaign.

Throughout the summer, you will see the advertisement below (see picture – perhaps squint a little).

Opt’s 1 800 SEX SENSE Line, a toll?free in BC phone and email service, is positioned as a great way to hook up with a clinic or ask a burning sexual health question.

“We wanted an ad that embodies Opt’s whole vision,” says Jessica Peart, Opt’s Manager of
Communications & Governance. “Sexual health is really central to everyone’s life. And we know that
being healthy means a lot more than only the treatment and prevention of disease. Our vision is for a
society that celebrates healthy sexuality, and understands that pleasure is a part that. And when it comes to young people, the ‘just say no’ messages just don’t work.”

To make the excitement over the ad campaign contagious, Opt and Hello Cool World are combining forces
to launch a “Sexy Summer Kissing Contest.” The contest invites people in BC to submit photos of
themselves kissing and promoting sexual health in public places to show just how hot taking care of
yourself and your partner can be. There will be draws throughout the summer for sexy prizes, including a
year’s supply of condoms and lube! Contest info at www.optbc.org; contest submissions can be sent to
contest@optbc.org. A short video about the contest and the making of the ad can be viewed by following this link.

Kissing Means Community!

John and Michelle Bornk! show the BC Community what a healthy, sexy and classy kiss looks like!

Everything about this campaign screams community – creative community! After all, what better way to demonstrate your affection for the favourite person – or, yeow, people – in your life than with a big, wet, sexy kiss? Because, as a wise, apparently-anonymous, person once said, “happiness is like a kiss – it feels best when you give it to someone else.”

So, people, find a partner, lover, open-minded-friends, a curious stranger, a pet (we here at the Daily Gumboot are fiercely accepting of all community-minded ideas and viewpoints), or your favourite symbol of Mother Nature and make out hardcore! And, hey, please make sure that both parties want to partake in the kiss. Finally – and most importantly – be safe out there.

In order to get your mojo moving even faster, here are some superawesome quotations about kissing:

• “The decision to kiss for the first time is the most crucial in any love story. It changes the relationship of two people much more strongly than even the final surrender; because this kiss already has within it that surrender.” (Emil Ludwig)
• “Kissing is like drinking salted water: you drink and your thirst increases.” (Chinese proverb)
• “I never thought that love could feel like this – then you changed my world with just one kiss.” (N’Sync)
• “Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves.” (Albert Einstein)
• “Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.” (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

So there it is. Now get kissing. And have fun with it!

- JCH

Early spring on the west coast can be like that.

Somehow we’d managed to be on the ball enough to all be in Squamish on the same weekend. That in itself was a major triumph for a group comprised of a dad, a gypsy pirate with no fixed address, a serious diver who lives on the island, and a Northerner with two massive (and massively high-maintenance) dogs that need a dedicated sitter if he’s away for more than 5 minutes.

Yahoos, the lot of us.

So there we were, on the best granite around, but it was wet.

Soaked.

Even the bouldering, half-protected by trees, had gone damp.

Smearing was really smeary, more like spreading butter than sticking rubber, you could aid up a crack that would normally be a walk in the park, desperately fighting for every inch of vertical progress.

I should mention we’re not the supermen and superwomen mountaineers who climb massive mixed routes or redpoint/onsight/free climb. We’re regular humans who got bitten by the climbing bug a few years ago in Northern BC, when dragged out to a little top-rope crag outside of Chetywnd.

We’ve led 5.10’s, but been scared as hell doing it.

Cave tea is good tea

So, being in a climbing locale and not being able to climb, we did the next best thing,  maybe the next-next-next best, it depends on how you feel about trundling, rock-fights, and tea-in-caves) we invaded public swim at the rec-centre.

Only, we weren’t really invading much, because a good three-quarters of the people there were yahoos too. Mostly concentrated around the hot tub, conversations started with nods and “hey weren’t you working on…” questions.

We soaked our battered selves in the tub, and as we sat there it dawned on me that this was the town square of a community focused on active living – and a beautiful thing.

There’s been a lot of debate in Vancouver over where the real Town Square is or ought to be, even here on the ‘boot, but the more I connect with communities of practice or interest, rather than of physical space, the more I find a town square can be anything from your local haunts, to the dog-park, or even your own home.

Dear readers give some thought to your communities and let us know, where’s your town square – the hub of your community? Is it more important during your downtime, or is connecting there part of your daily routine?

As a key media outlet for the 2010 Olympics, the Daily Gumboot is excited to bring you our “Olympics Neighbourhoods” series. Here’s how it works: each week, Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, and Editor-in-Chief, John will profile a different Vancouver neighbourhood with a specific focus on things that might interest out-of-town visitors who arrive in The Couve for the Olympics. We will do this between now and the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and the story will be told be the Gumboot’s editors asking and answering the five questions below. These are the straight goods that you can’t get from VANOC, the Ministry of Tourism or the City of Vancouver. Let’s get to it!

1. Where is this neighbourhood exactly, and how do I get there?

JOHN: Merville is a mysterious and secret neighbourhood that exists between the West End and Stanley Park. Few Vancouverites have ever truly found this hidden gem of a community. Unfortunately, it is unreachable by public transit, although a quick hike or bike ride through some of Merville’s amazing trails will get you into the community’s heart in no time at all!

KURT: If you want a real answer, I’d suggest typing in Courtenay, BC into Google maps. Then go a little into the bush and presto, you’re there.

2. Why should a tourist/traveler be interested in it?

KURT: My favorite part about Merville is the streams. I can remember several happy occasions where I had the opportunity to A) float down them and B) dive underneath the rocks and through carved holes in the riverbed. No, I’m not on acid. There is such a place and its called Nymph Falls.

JOHN: The Merville General Store is probably one of the coolest, most eclectic places in Vancouver. Colourful local characters who never, ever leave this hidden community pull up a bar stool and engage as many tourists and newcomers as possible in conversations that run the gamut from inspiring to downright weird. Merville also yields spectacular beeches, lush pastures and forests, as well as one of the most diverse mushroom populations in Coastal British Columbia. Finally, it’s the gumboot capital of Canada, which may or may not have inspired a couple of editors back at the beginning of this project.

3. What good and/or unique things are there to eat?

JOHN: As I said before, there are mushrooms galore! But if fungus isn’t for you, I recommend sampling some other amazing treats from the 100% local bounty of Merville. A lot of people here live off the grid (and some don’t like strangers shooting film on their porches, apparently), so their diet consists of truly local beef (we saw two or three cows during our trip), chickens and other fowl, pigs, goats, sheep, small-to-medium-sized-rodents, shellfish and non-shellfish, and a wide variety of roots, tubers and berries. The culinary highlight was probably stumbling across a gentleman who was harvesting some winter squash that he was planning to serve with heaping portions of rabbit stew. Yum yum!

KURT: Another great place to check out is the Atlas. Make sure you order their chicken focaccia sandwich. And also make sure you bring an appetite. John once finished second in an international hot dog eating contest (at least that’s what he tells me) and he still has trouble eating the whole sandwich.

4. What can I do for fun in this neighbourhood.

JOHN: Merville has one of the weirdest community traditions I’ve ever seen in my travels – which include history books, television shows and face-to-face adventures around the world. The locals love to rock fight. I don’t know how to explain it more simply, other than to write this: find someone else in the ‘hood and throw rocks at that person. Typically, the first rock is a warning shot and might not actually hit the person. After that, it’s game on! Like I said, it’s weird.

5. What are your three favourite things about Merville?

1) It’s a real place. If you’re only in town for a few more days, forget the Olympics and try to find Merville. This unique, hidden and quaint little community has a lot to offer and is a once-in-a-lifetime place to visit. In exchange for my telling you the community’s location I would accept hockey tickets. It’s worth it. Trust me.

2) Adventure. Whether it’s getting in a rock fight, evading curmudgeony locals or careening through a breathtaking forest, Merville has all sorts of spectacular outdoor sights to experience in a myriad of different ways.

3) Olympic Spirit. Did you know that 100% of Mervillians support the Olympics? Also, Canadian Hockey Defenseman, Brent Seabrook is actually from the tiny Stanley Park hamlet of Merville! True story. Before moving to Delta/Tswwassen, Mr. Seabrook honed his hockey skills by shooting rocks against trees with his grandfather’s hockey stick.

So, here’s the deal (and here’s the link to the contest): the Gumboot’s correspondents need your help to triumph over the likes of “second beach” and “bull kelp” and a disgustingly romantic picture of a couple kissing on Long Beach at sunset. Our photo is called “frolicking at Tofino” and we would like you to vote for it. Here it is in bigger-version-format:

Frolicking at Tofino (click on the photo and vote today!)

Still not convinced we’re worth your vote? Well, here are five reasons to give “Frolicking at Tofino” a chance:

1. The photo captures the spirit and beauty of the West Coast. Sandy beaches that go on as if forever? Check. Lovely couple running, jumping, dancing, frolicking, and loving all over the West Coast? Check. Smokey skies that make one reflect on the stormy possibilities of Long Beach, Vancouver Island and the West Coast? Check. Simple yet indescribable beauty that can’t truly be understood without a steaming hot cup of coffee sipped slowly as the Sun rises warmly over your shoulders while you feel the chilly, salty wind on your face and smell the fishy fresh air? Double check! Communicating the previous statement (more or less) through photography? Check.

2. My family won’t support me. What did my father do when I called him last night and asked him to spread the word about the contest and help us win? Well, he said something like, “Forsythe? Almanac? Right on, I love that show! Where do I upload a photo? We’ve got some great ones from when your mom and I went to Ucluelet!” No joke. My dad uploaded his own photo and is now competing against us. Incidentally, you can vote for Geoff Horn by selecting the “After the Storm” photo. Unbelievable. And people wonder why I’m so competitive!

3. It is a good, technical photo. Full disclosure. As Michelle and I frolicked towards the camera my mom, Janet, was snapping many, many pictures. And she snapped a great one here. Her shot is well framed, balances the background and foreground of the scene, makes great use of the backlight, and is a crisp, not blurry, dynamic action shot. Well done, mom.

4. Michelle and I are getting married, and the contest has a great prize! That’s right, everyone, the grand prize for this contest is a two-night stay at the Wickanninish Inn on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. This would be a wonderful way for us to celebrate our love, togetherness and ability to frolick. Also, by voting for us you will be able to give the gift of awkwardness! I mean, since my mom took the picture, she’ll probably want to come along if we win, right?

5. We’re having a really, really good time in the picture. This photo was taken during the holidays last December. Before leaving the West Coast, we stopped at Long Beach for a brief, shared moment of existential delight, which some call frolicking. We had fun with it, and our delightful leaping certainly inspired some smiles by a few people who shared the moment with us. And it was a beautiful thing we’re happy to share with you today.

So there it is. Our case for “Frolicking at Tofino” has been made and I hope it inspired you to vote for us and perhaps tell 10 or so friends about the contest, too. This CBC thing might go places, man – Forsythe knows his stuff. Once again, here is the link to the contest. Thanks very much for your time and consideration and, hopefully, your votes, too.

- John and Michelle

Will clever commentary be backed up by accountable piracy?

Today we will be discussing tax, representation and rejecting an unfair socioeconomic system to, possibly, become a pirate.

I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you’ve heard about the HST. Maybe you even have an opinion about it. From Bill Tieleman to Bill Vander Zalm to Kurt Heinrich to Kevin Milligan, people have opinions that run the gamut of sensation; from raging social injustice to practically good policy. Whether you despise taxes altogether or just hate this one, I have a solution for you. Become a pirate! Literally, if you like (I’ll get to that), but metaphorically is probably a better solution for all of us (at least until the puffy shirt factory starts pumping things out a little faster). Here’s the deal: many people feel unrepresented by the HST, just like many people feel unrepresented or cheated by the GST, income taxes, the Carbon Tax, exorbitantly priced Canucks tickets, lack of affordable housing, police, universities, Walmart, Translink, and talent agencies (honestly, I think you’re a great singer and were treated unfairly). We’re really good at complaining, but not as good at being accountable for our ideas – ideas like collectively changing and/or withdrawing from an unfair, broken, corrupt, and imbalanced system that seems to encourage and reward corruption, incompetence and general shady shenanigans. We can do better if we learn from pirate communities.Even the University of Chicago recognizes the power of pirates as educational tools!

People, our community is thoroughly more positive, intelligent and cohesive than this rather unequal, unrepresentative and restrictive paradigm of governance allows. Perhaps we can do better by rejecting the system and embracing our inner entrepreneur – or inner pirate. I understand if this scares you. But there are certainly models for change out there, too. First, let’s explore taxation and democracy in a historical and global context and then examine community and unfair political decisions from a piratical perspective:

Mad at being unrepresented? Maybe we should actually be a democracy.

A recent article in The Independent by Johann Hari suggests that modern

Embrace your inner entrepreneur and start asking questions about the system to which you belong.

day pirates, like their historic brothers and sisters, have rejected today’s unequal, corrupt and punishing global “system.” Hari cites the last words of William Scott, a pirate hanged in Charleston, South Carolina during the Golden Age of Piracy: “What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live.” BC’s democracy makes me chuckle. Heck, our perception of democracy makes me chuckle. Democratically speaking, most of us don’t usually vote for the party in power (ie. the NDP in the 1990s – never more than 45% of the vote – and the current BC Liberal government – 46% of the vote – and Federal Conservative – 37% of the vote – government were brought to power with less than half of the popular vote, which doesn’t even account for the tens of thousands of people who didn’t vote because of their dissatisfaction with the system and the people steering it).

One hundred years before the French Revolution, pirate ships – or pirate companies – were run on the ideals of liberty, equality and brotherhood. It was the rule, rather than the exception. According to scholar and fellow Piratologist, David Cordingly, author of Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates, at times, it was difficult to even get a pirate ship going anywhere. You see, the crew actually voted on a destination before the captain set a course; arguably, this accounted for pirates’ time being spent in warm places like the Caribbean, Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Malacca. This whole time, we’ve been looking to France and the US for our democratic models, when we really should’ve been looking towards pirate ships!

Pirates drafted and signed “The Articles of Piracy” before each voyage. These  articles regulated the distribution of plunder, the scale of compensation for injuries in battle, and outlined basic rules for shipboard life (ie. no one is allowed to drink all the rum and/or wear the captain’s eye patch in jest) as well as punishments for those who broke the rules (ie. you wore the eye-patch in jest and now the captain, who turned out to be pretty sensitive, won’t come out of his cabin and, well, he’s got the map). After the articles were written, every pirate aboard signed them. Sure, it’d be tedious, but perhaps we need to re-draft our terms of agreement with our leaders before each election or major decision that affects so many stakeholders.

The Articles seem pretty darn democratic, and I wonder what we can take from these lessons on a pirate ship and apply to our system. After all, the crew aboard the Jolly British Columbian seems to be talking about steering the ship in a new direction with recent movements against the HST.

Seriously, we’re crying about the HST?

When things go bad here on the West Coast of Canada, I like to put them in a global perspective. How bad are they, really? From the BBC to CNN to Al Jazeera, the world suddenly became very interested in Somali pirates after they hijacked a Saudi tanker, the Sirius Star. They did what nobody thought possible and they got noticed. Like, really noticed. Oh, and they made $3 million from the ransom, too.  Sure, many – or most – of the pirates are gangsters. No, this doesn’t make hostage-taking okay and, no, this blog does not condone hostage taking (although, for the record, Theo Lamb is a fully trained hostage negotiator). But this article has outlined some of the ways that these seagoing thugs are dealing with a recessive global economy. “Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world,” says Hari. They didn’t like the rigour, restrictions and “oppressiveness” of the seafaring alternatives of, say, the Merchant Marine or Royal Navy, so they chose a more independent, democratic and risky life at sea.”

In his article, Hari examines the circumstances by which many Somali fishermen have been thrust into the world of piracy. After the fall of the country’s government in

Somali pirates or the Somali Coast Guard? You decide!

1991, Africa’s longest coastline (Somalia’s coast spans about 2,000 miles) has been unprotected. This power-vacuum has provided a perfect opportunity for the international fishing industry to steal Somalia’s food supply and use the region as a dumping ground for nuclear waste (“yes: nuclear waste,” says Hari – cadmium and mercury were also, allegedly, thrown in the mix). Hari interviewed Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, who claims that “there has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention” of such a gross example of pollution. But one can also see how market forces have driven them to think outside the box, get creative, take risks, and work together in innovative ways in a new, community-based entrepreneurial system that exists beyond the one the world helped break.

In a recent Time magazine article, Ishaan Thardoor argues that “Somali piracy has metastasized into the country’s only boom industry. Most of the pirates, observers say, are not former fishermen, but just poor folk seeking their fortune. Right now, they hold 18 cargo ships and some 300 sailors hostage — the work of a sophisticated and well-funded operation.”Recent findings show that in excess of $300 million US in shellfish is being stolen from the Somali coast by illegal trawlers each year. They have no government to speak of. Organizations are dumping nuclear waste in their waters and on their land. Somalia just might be the worst place on Earth. Kinda puts the global recession and BC’s tax-shift  in perspective, eh? They don’t “fit” in the current economic system, which is probably why the independent Somalian news site, WardheerNews, found that 70 per cent of Somalians “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence.” Some even call them the “Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia”! And we can most certainly call them rejectors of an unfair system swirling in chaos.

Well, this doesn't seem fair at all!

But, um, yeah. The HST is tough, too. After all, a study released by the Recent Findings Institute reported that the HST is “oppressive” and a “betrayal” of the BC people mostly because of the amount of nuclear waste in it.

Now. Obviously a good binary opposition can make any argument look ridiculous by putting it next to, well, something ridiculous. In any case, if you do in fact believe that, in the context of all things British Columbia, the HST is grossly unfair and a violation of our democracy, perhaps you might consider breaking from the system to which you are very connected. Find some friends. Find a boat. And change your life. Maybe start small, you know, by taking your illegal downloading of music one step further: download a movie or some software and then some tv shows and then, when you’re ready, overtake a ship by force and pillage its contents! BC has a lot of water, you know. Or perhaps you’d like to explore the ways in which your community (local, regional, online, or otherwise) can be used as a vehicle for positive social change within this HST-laden system of ours. Whatever the case, I encourage you to be a democratic, creative and entrepreneurial pirate. If things in BC are really so bad, there are some great historical and contemporary models of fighting injustice to explore, such as the inclusive and democratic experience aboard a pirate ship. Whatever direction you choose, be sure to exercise collaboration, safety and aim to have your community’s best interests in mind; sure, such ideas might seem matter-o-fact, but – every now and then – it doesn’t happen.

So there it is. Yaaarrrrrrrrrghhhhhh welcome!

- Sir John the Pirate Piratologist

Taking one for the team; can you do that whilst walking in a park?

“Rather than formal team sports, maybe people will be doing more walking or dancing or playing in parks. I think each of us has a personal responsibility to attend to this,” said Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid following her recent announcement that there will be sweeping funding cuts to high school athletic programs. Read the full article in The Globe and Mail or, well, by the time this blog post is published I’m sure the quote will have been played on every channel and written about in every paper in British Columbia. You might even have it memorized. Now, on its own MacDiarmid’s quote is interesting enough. Coupled with a recent study by Mary Pat MacKinnon, Sonia Pitre, Judy Watling, it becomes reflective of a larger social issue and political challenge. And that challenge is youth engagement. The article is called Lost in Translation: (Mis)understanding Youth Engagement. Well, youth, something so many of you value is being trimmed and cut; now is your time to show BC whether or not you’re  apathetic, disengaged and politically ADHD. For the record, a lot of us think you are.

Look. I have nothing against playing in parks. Ms. MacDiarmid is correct that more of us need to be active in our leisure time, which is why I am happy to say that I played in parks when I was five and I play in them now. Thing is, between the ages of five and now, I was a pretty darn good athlete. Competitive, some might say. And frolicking amongst the jungle gyms and swings and water fountains/pools of parks isn’t really the same as playing team sports. The health and fitness benefits aside, let’s focus on community-building-skills glened from youth athletics. Well, there’s leadership, for starters. Giving and receiving feedback from peers happens with team sports, too. Commitment, accountability and learning from success/failure are amazing parts of competitive athletics. Caring about something bigger than yourself (ie. the team) is also incredibly valuable. Sportsmanship, fair play, ethics, morality, and collaborating on a group-oriented – and group-owned – vision is useful for, say, an arena like politics or corporate leadership, too. And then there is the true beauty of when the whole thing comes together. When your team wins and the group shares a collective moment of reflection on how the above skills got them to the pinnacle of youth athletics, a provincial championship in the best place on Earth.

But going for long walks or playing a bit of afternoon frolf (“what, oh, the frolf courses are gone too? Man, that’s too bad”) is a fine substitution for youth athletic programs, right?

Currently, I fill the community role as “young professional” – am I a “working family”? no, I’m definitely not – so, besides my recollecting about the glory days, I don’t have a vested interest in fighting the good fight for youth athletics. Like I said, I do exercise by riding my bike to and from work, walking and kicking a ball around in parks. I love it. And, quite honestly, this isn’t my battle to win (and I would totally win, because that’s what I did and that’s why some people stopped being my friend). It’s a battle for youth to wage. Hey, recent findings show that young people will look past their entitlementia and take a stand for things in which they believe. There is a lot of data out there suggesting that young people are involved in all kinds of political causes. Such findings argue that a 135% increase in youth voting gave Barack Obama his presidential victory. And the (Mis)Understanding Youth Engagement article listed above shows that, while Generation Y (people born after 1979) is very engaged in “small p” political life (ie. community organizing, business lobbying, environmental groups, Johnism), youth today are disenchanted and uninspired by political leaders. Well, young people might’ve just been given a reason to become inspired.

I work with talented, visionary, charismatic, and amazing young people every day. A lot of them are former high school athletes. And a lot of them don’t know who or what Mark Carney and the HST are. So, to say the least, I am very interested to see how the Millennials handle this challenge. Will they engage the issue, or ask their parents to do it for them?

Good luck and have fun with it, BC youth. If it doesn’t work out, you can always dance with me in a park.

- JCH