Roxanne Tellier – Empathy and a God in Our Own Image

The holiday season is a good time to think about our interactions with other people. We really want to make our loved ones smile, so we’ll do as much as we can to please them. We search out gifts for giving that we think will delight our friends and acquaintances, hoping to strike that balance between spending too much or not enough. And, in the best case scenario, we find it in our hearts and pocketbooks to donate a little to those who have less than we do; some of us will do that because we think it’s right to share what we have with others, while some will do so because donations can be written off on next year’s taxes. Either way – our donations and caring will have some impact on those in need.

Roxanne Tellier – Smiling Faces, Sometimes, They Don’t Tell The Truth

Superman would be really disappointed in the United States today.

JAIMIE VERNON – YOU SAY IT’S MY BIRTHDAY

As you read this I’m either on or about to go on stage for what is most certainly my 1,000^th live musical appearance as the final act on the final night of David Bash’s long-running Toronto International Pop Overthrow Festival (this is year #10). I’ve been humiliating myself and faking musical talent in public since September 1980. Thirty-six years of looking for affirmation in all the wrong places.

Roxanne Tellier: Legalize It!

I’m sure it wasn’t the Canadian government’s intention to play Lucy snatching the football away before Charlie Brown can kick it. But it’s getting harder and harder to trust that the Trudeau government has any intention of following through on promises to legalize, regulate, and restrict marijuana use, medically or recreationally.

Roxanne Tellier Last One Out, Turn Off the Lights

The Canadian relationship with winter and snow is a lot like marriage; some love it, and look forward to their time together. Others tolerate winter, but spend a lot of time apart during cold patches. Still others grumble, but it’s a loving martyrdom that takes the good (skiing) right along with the bad (shoveling.)

Roxanne Tellier – The Open Heart

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”. (Bob Dylan, “Shelter From The Storm.”)

On Wednesday, the world was horrified to see images of a lifeless 3 year old boy, AylanKurdi, drowned and washed up on the sand on a Tunisian beach. It was a day that changed us. We could no longer look away from the suffering of millions caught in a whirlwind of horror brought about by climate change, political unrest, and unrelenting war.

Roxanne Tellier: IRL – Tweets and Shaming

If you are very lucky, you have never, and will never, be in a situation where a group of ordinary people suddenly turn into an angry mob. It’s like the flip of a switch. In a heartbeat, centuries of evolution dissolve, and the hive mind kicks in. Whether you are part of the mob, the object of the mob’s outrage, or are simply caught up in the emotional frenzy, the mob mentality overrules the civilized mind and transforms perfectly ordinary people into raging, club swinging Neanderthals with a single purpose – destruction.