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.)
“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.
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.
In Montreal in the sixties, growing up in a Catholic family, we were always encouraged to use our talents in religious gatherings. Even my Aunt Pat, blissfully unaware that she was tone-deaf, would raise her voice loudly and proudly in song. I sang at mass, first in Latin as the organ wheezed, and later in folk masses, where the guitar was the instrument of choice.
Live long enough, you’ll see everything.
Back in the late 90’s, early 2000’s I had a thriving eBay business. I had 5 people on staff, and made a decent living. eBay called me a “bronze” seller, because I did so well.
And then the planes hit the towers in 2001. Immediately, America went xenophobic, and really, who could blame them? They had been hit in their Big Apple, a city so loved and blessed they named it twice … New York, New York.
Bullseye Records of Canada
