Talkin' Bout My Generation

     I have two older sisters, the first came of age around the early 1970's, the second around 1980 and myself the late 80's. My poor parents, three teenagers pretty far apart in time, as soon as they knew what the kids were all about times changed. It would make for a great mini-series on HBO, lots of period costumes and great music!
     So I was talking to my oldest sister online recently as she said something along the line of, I thought your generation was like our middle sisters?, oh my! No! So this article is for her, and all the other Baby Boomers out there who think we are all like you! I'm not angry, people do it all the time. I remember an older co-worker say something about Rod Stewart, and ask "don't you like the new CD, it's kinda from your generation isn't it?" I hopefully didn't sound too crass when I said "uhh... that's kinda more from my sisters generation, not a big fan of the Stewart." Now if you were to ask about Dave Stewart from The Eurythmics, now you're more in the right demographic. I get it from younger people too, they are very confused about everything that happened before the year 2000 They think everything was all Disco parties and Michael Jackson videos while we were all waiting around for them to be born so they could tell us how to operate social media.
     Well, I am in a hard to pin down generation, Douglas Coupland is credited for coining the phrase Generation X from his 1991 novel Generation X: Tales For An Accelerated Generation. I really do intend to read it one day, I've been really busy since 1991 though! He was one of the first to write down and get some notice on the difference between the Baby Boom generation and the something-else generation that followed. I have read some books on demographics, David Foot's Boom, Bust & Echo was a good read. He places the Baby Boom generation as being born between 1947-1966, and if I remember correctly the Bust generation (Generation X) from 1966- 1980, although I don't think I have a lot in common with many 30-somethings these days, there isn't a lot of agreement on where exactly to place the markers on my generation. I remember how Foot talked about the Baby Boomers as having more wealth and opportunity, especially if you were born in the middle part of the Boom, however he said the later Boomers, like my middle sister, have a little more in common economically speaking with my generation. I recall feeling vindicated a demographic-economist recognized my generation was not getting the same economic opportunities as our older friends and siblings, it kinda felt that way all along. He also said that my generation was the most diverse, racially, economically and politically, which is probably true, hard to find consensus in my age group. Also, that we are among the most educated of  demographic groups, in my life it was better to continue education rather than get a minimum wage job. Anyway, that is how a scientist pegged it, I'll bet a personal reflection would shed a better light.
     For myself and many of my fellow Gen Xer's it was the music that set us apart from everyone before. I remember the sounds of Elton John and Queen coming from my sisters turntable, later the phenomenon of the Bee-Gee's and the soundtrack (double album) Saturday Night Fever! It didn't seem to take long for the Disco records to be shuffled to the back of the pile though, ask her about it now and it's like Disco never happened, oh but it did, I was a boy but I certainly remember it's rise and fall. There was kind of a musical vacuum after Disco, I think everyone felt duped by record companies and returned to listening to the Rolling Stones and maybe John Lennon? By around 1981 was getting old enough to try forming my own identity and, as for lots of kids, it was done through music, the first records I ever bought (with my parents money) were a K-Tel Super Hits of 1981, The Best of Blondie and DEVO's Duty Now For The Future. I decided that I was going to be New Wave and that was that! The music was integral, it was not my sisters old rock and Disco of the 70's! Of course fashion and style were of uber-importance! I remember sneaking downstairs many times, past my bed time to watch J.D. Roberts and Jeanne Becker on The New Music, everything in the 80's was NEW! This Toronto based show was primarily a music video and interview hour of the hottest and newest people in the business. Everyone who was anyone was on this show, from a very young Bono and U2 to The Boomtown Rats to Wendy and the Plasmatics, every tiny movement in (primarily) British music was profiled, Punk Rock, New Romanticism, Ska, Reggae, Rockabilly, early Techno, there was a lot of music out there and you weren't hearing it on the radio, you were seeing it on TV, in the form of Music Videos. I shudder when kids these days give credit to Michael Jackson for inventing the music video, mmmm not so fast kiddo, he may have elevated it to multi-million dollar production values but he didn't invent it!
     I think there is confusion surrounding my generation because mainly our music was ignored by the Baby Boomers and Corporations alike, the early days of the 80's must have scared the pants off both! What? They don't use guitars? The men are wearing eyeliner and lipstick? They are singing about socio-political institutions? They are wearing their hair in fantastical styles? There was such an acceptance of different styles of expression in the 80's with us kids, so many bands that got a record contract and produced one hit, then disappeared, only to reappear on funny Where Are They Now MTV shows 25 years later. So much of our music just made an older generation cringe. I was a huge fan of Duran Duran, got third row tickets for the 1983 Concert in Calgary, in retrospect I suppose the lyrics are completely meaningless, but after all the 70's love songs with so much emotional meaning who the hell needed meaning anymore? They were all style and fashion with a whole new sound, maybe the meaninglessness was the message? I still enjoy it though, I remember every lyric and nuance in every track to this day, it takes up space in my brain where algebra should be, guess you had to be there!? For this Gen Xer nothing sums up the predicament of my generation like the early techno band Depeche Mode. Because I grew up in the middle of the Canadian Prairies I didn't really hear them until the radio hit People Are People, a song that asks the non-violent question " People are people so why should it be?, you and I should get along so awfully? set to German influenced experimental "Industrial Sound". These guys were on to something, I followed them until about 1992. That song came from the album entitled Life In The So-Called Space Age, the theme was that the world was a let down and there's not much you can do about it so get used to living in a hellscape. Sounds heavy but it has it's upbeat moments. I treat a lot of their lyrics as anthems to my generation. From 1986's Black Celebration, the song It Doesn't Matter Two - "though we feel like pioneers, we may be the last in the world...", From World Full Of Nothing - "...In a world full of nothing, though it's not love it means something..." But probably what says a lot about how many in my age group think is  1983's comment on the corporate world, Everything Counts -" Confidence painted in, by a suntan and a grin...The grabbing hands, grab all they can, all for themselves, after all, it's a competitive world...Everything counts in large amounts." This is why I think Corporate America just ignored us and maybe tried to invent Rap music years later! I can imagine 80's executives sitting around saying, how can we market to this demographic?, they don't trust media, politicians, are all iconoclasts, and think second hand clothes are cool. Oh we were a different batch allright, and really with no spending power, so why bother from their perspective?
Of course that's just one example of musical anthems, I stayed on the electronic and dancey side of music because of a serious case of the gay, some of my friends from back then would probably cite something more Punk Rock, Dead Kennedy's or Circle Jerks, it was all a little too angry for me. There were just so many voices to be heard back then, everybody liked some band nobody really heard of. There were mainstream kids too who maybe liked something like WHAM! Usually the girls who had absolutely no sense of gaydar, I'm sure they cried a little when George Michael came out?
     The music was a symbol for us, a symptom not the cause. There were many events around the world that formed our special knack for cynicism. The Cold War was ending, looking back the whole thing was really quite silly and dragged out for a long time. We were still scared a trigger happy Ronald Reagan was going to start a war with Russia, have a listen to Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Two Tribes -"when two tribes go to war, one is all that you can score." Oh I'm trying to get off the music lecture, sorry. I totally remember the made for TV movie The Day After, a scarily realistic vision of nuclear war, fun times! There was also Apartheid in South Africa to think about, it was becoming as egregious as the Cold War, stubborn reminders of a by-gone era. So there wasn't much for us to believe in, who could trust in our leaders in times like those? A lot of us were also disappointed we missed all the fun of the Sexual Revolution of the 60's and 70's too and saw it's consequences as AIDS gripped the globe.The party was over. It really did seem like A World Full Of Nothing, and nothing to look forward too. The happy hippie days of Woodstock were long gone, I remember a Rolling Stone article in the late 80's, it showed how the Woodstock generation had mostly become wealthy executives, times had changed, all that peace and love was maybe just a passing fancy?
     It sounds like we're the most depressed generation ever, it's OK, we got used to it. I recall in my College days an instructor asking us, "if your generation is so depressed why aren't you all out killing yourselves?" She was sort of being funny but the answer is I suppose we just accepted it, we always hoped it would get better and maybe there is a certain power and freedom in being marginalized? I'm glad the Baby Boomers are supporting the market and research for solving some of the issues around aging, I won't be happy if you break the retirement savings of our countries however. I hope younger generations will look up to us one day, the 20 somethings of today that some call Generation Y. I like to call them generation why? as in why do you do the stupid shit you do? And what I like to call Generation Now, the under 20 kids, who want everything NOW!!!
You kids who have filled your lives with technology and bought everything corporations were selling you, the kids who got entry level jobs after your Post Secondary years, yay for you! We graduated into a big recession and minimum wage jobs, no upward mobility for most of us. Look to my generation as the ones who lived quite happily without belief in money and possessions buying happiness, corporations and politicians having answers and that you will be young forever. We watched the Baby Boomers deny the ageing process for years, even aerobics couldn't keep Jane Fonda from middle age! As the Bare Naked Ladies sang "It's all been done before."
    
    
    

Nothing From Nothing, Leaves...

     With eight days to go until the election I thought I might have more to say. I thought I would have a least met my candidates at my door. I got to meet and scold Jim Prentice when he was campaigning in my riding of Calgary Centre North years ago. I told him "I am gay and live in Alberta, I will never vote for you or the Conservative Party, ever!!!" I was concerned about any repeal of the newly enacted gay marriage bill at the time, I was also a little peeved at the weather as a summer storm was brewing and I was moving my rather large potted lemon tree and had it in my hands, with the three inch thorns scratching my face when Prentice appeared at my back gate. Cripes! I already have squirells to deal with, I don't need Conservatives roaming around the yard too!!!
     Anyway, I was trying to do some research on the new Conservative candidate for Calgary Centre North, Michelle Rempel, but have come up pretty empty handed. Her facebook page has been shut down long ago and I only found a few articles from independent bloggers. All we know is she is 31 years old, holy shit! And she has been a "volunteer" with the Conservative Party for a few years. That's it, that's all folks! We were supposed to have a by-election since Jim Prentice resigned last year but it didn't happen because of this election, we've been without an MP for some time now! One of the other few things I found out about this Michelle Rempel is that she was appointed to this riding, I would say it screams of patronage and total disregard for democracy and disdain for my riding. 31 years old! I can't believe it myself, oh I'm sure there is so much wisdom packed into the 30 some years, sounds like a little too much Blonde Ambition if you ask me. Seems like the Conservatives don't want someone with experience or a thought of their own, they would like a shill, some kid, like a puppy, who will tow that party line. Calgary is so taken for granted, Michelle Rempel will not even show up for debates. My local News showed footage from an all candidates debate recently for my riding, in Michelle Rempel's place, a potted plant. That's what you are going to get my fellow constituents, how fitting! It is also of note here, Calgary East candidate Deepak Obhrai  will also not attend debates. It's because they don't have to and the Conservative Party does not want to answer your questions anyway, lest they be too hard or too telling and word gets out they are nothing but a bunch of Right-Wing yes men and women.
     My bigger problem is no one cares about Calgary, politically that is. Calgary is the third or fourth largest city in Canada, depending how you count, has the third busiest airport in the country and was recently forecasted as the only city in North America to grow this year, no other Canadian cities made the list, I think the other two were Paris and London. We just elected a new style of mayor in a surge of political interest and yet none of the major leaders have campaigned here. Elizabeth May of the Green Party has so far been the only one to visit during this election, in some Calgary ridings the Green Party has come second in numbers. The Liberals, especially are making a big mistake by ignoring Calgary. I tell you, I grew up here and have spent most of my adult life here, Calgary is not as Conservative as you think it is. We don't, however, like Eastern arrogance, as in, Ignatieff and Layton couldn't be bothered to show up, as well as Mr. Harper, why should any of us vote for you either?!?! The Conservatives are too busy wooing the Toronto vote. I kind of hate all of them right now. The Liberals and NDP for thinking we are apparently all a bunch of cowboy rednecks, and the Conservatives for thinking the same and they don't have to do anything, not even show up to answer questions. Sheesh, no wonder nothing ever happens in this country!
     It seems that the only people who do vote in Canada are the elderly, I wonder what will happen in 20 years when they die off? Appointed government from the Monarchy? Maybe more likely, appointed government from oil companies or corporations? Ahh my friends, that is a theory for another day. To my fellow Canadians, you will get what you give, and if that is nothing, or nothing but contempt, then... good luck with that not caring about voting thing! As for politicians who don't care about engaging the electorate, you might get away with it this time, but there are always more elections in the future!

Master Debaters

     I watched the debate between the leaders of the Federal Parties of Canada last night and came away with a real sense of how our politics are desperately outdated. While it is important to have debates and know what the issues are, this debate must have looked somewhat ridiculous to most of us, including me. What it basically boiled down to was yelling at Stephen Harper for two hours, while he does deserve it this style of dialouge belongs in Parliament not prime time debates. I don't think Canadians like yelling and personal attacks, it puts them off, we're too nice for it. Michael Ignatieff had a real chance to frame arguments here and illustrate the difference between Left and Right but the set up of this debate does not really allow for it. First of all what the hell is Duceppe from the Bloc Quebecois doing here? Since the mission of the Separatists is for a French speaking independent Quebec and none of us in English Canada can vote for you I don't give a flying fig what you have to say! He comes off as a crazy house-party guest who knows he's not going to be invited back, the kind of guest who's going to drink everyone's booze out of the fridge, insult everybody and maybe steal your silverware on the way out after throwing up in a corner somewhere. Duceppe somehow got the first response to Harper and set a bitter accusatory tone for the rest of the night. Jack Layton was intent on attacking Harper and Ignatieff, but with a smile at the end of each segment, I think it just confuses people more, because he is a likable character and these debates seem set up to illustrate personality over policy. I lean Liberal, surprise! the gay guy who went to Art College is not Conservative, go figure? So I was interested in what Igantieff had to say, he made some good points against Harper but I'm afraid he sort of comes off as a John Kerry. The intellect and the ideas are good and a stark contrast to the Bush-era politics of Harper but like Kerry I can't see him winning over a great majority of the people. I truly blame the structure of the debate for this, there are too many candidates, it takes too much time to let them all have their say and it becomes hard to follow or notice a contrast in arguments. Stephen Harper looks like the winner here as he remained calm and collected through the three-man pile up, we are the losers because there are serious issues at play here that Harper has to account for. I would rather a debate between Ignatieff and Harper only, this is the real battle in Canada, the NDP are not going to form a government it's just how the numbers are, the Bloc Quebecois don't care about the rest of Canada so why should we care about them? The real fight is do we want a Canada, led by Harper, follow the failed policies of the American Right-Wing? Please flip on a television to see the Budget battles in the US right now, where do you think Harper gets the idea that we should lower Corporate taxes and place more of a burden on the middle-class? It's not a made in Canada idea my friends, it comes right out of the playbook of the Republican Party. The Evangelical Christian ideology that has crept into Harper's government comes right out of the George W. Bush school of thought too. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to ask Harper himself about any of this?, well you can't, everyone who attends a rally must be thoroughly checked out by the RCMP and Harper's staff, just like in the 2004 Bush campaign. Your questions or criticism are not welcome.
     Anyway, I don't think Ignatieff did himself any favours last night, he was at his best towards the end of the second hour when we was not attacking but simply stating policies. That is what Canadians need to know from all parties, policies, not how well they do in the Tuesday Night Fight Club. Oh yeah, almost forgot, where was Elizabeth May from the Green Party? This is another issue I have with whoever runs these debates. It would have been nice if any one of those guys mentioned it at least, it would have been the moment everyone talked about today! The style of these debates has remained unchanged since the year I was born, and my age is on the wrong side of 40! No wonder Canadians have lost interest in their government. Hey do you wanna hear some hot tracks from the late 1960's? Mmmm, not right now thanks,can't, I gave my record player away 15 years ago!