Toni Braxton

Operatic

I know that most classical music aficionados scorn at pop music. But if you look at the history of opera, for example, it was very much for the masses, it was popular! And I would call Toni Braxton's performance in "Un-break my heart", both musically and in her "narrative", as operatic. The depth of emotion in her voice, and the final soaring, endless cri de coeur is worthy of any Lincoln Center performance.

Un-break my heart

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Art Critics

And finding God

Fire Island Sunset, 2004. By James Collins - Founder of
The Hudson River School for Landscape

James Panero of The New Criterion wrote one huge piece (all of 1,881 words) on the revival of the Hudson River School painting style. In all those words, he managed to do just three things: there is a revival, the original Hudson River School were looking for God in nature, and the current crop haven't found God.

What does finding God in a painting look like? How does he know that the young painters, obviously just starting out, will not seek and find God as they progress with their art and craft? Did the original Hudson River School painters enter the mountains with such a lofty goal in mind, or were they eventually, and inevitably, drawn to the spiritual in nature?

Since Panero is obviously a wordsmith, has a whole ivy league arts education under his belt, and is supposedly a "critic", he is bound to write the way he does. He's not giving these brave young students any slack, and slashes them gently with his erudite vocabulary.

I say this from experience, because whenever an artist or a designer embarks on a tentative, different path, all the "experts" descend on him. I'm not sure why this is, although I've often thought that it is something to do with them jealously guarding their shaky edifice which is about to collapse at any moment. Much of modern art and modern criticism is based on shaky ground.

Panero's final sentence struck me as especially disingenuous: "Deep in the Catskill wilderness, they may be in a house of God, but that doesn’t mean they’ve got religion." He's making the Hudson River School revival to be some kind of evangelical revivalism.

I came upon another article of his on Picasso. Anyone who has studied Picasso will realize the fraud that he is, just as Tom Wolfe writes. Every step of Picasso's, which was so radically different from his previous steps (from his blue period, to his "cubism" to name the more famous ones), was a copy of other more serious artists in his milieu. An art critic who doesn't recognize this is being dishonest, to say the least.

For all his "they are the products of an art world that shouts but has little to say", presumably a jab at the current Damien Hirst-like atrocities going on, he still isn't much different from those who look suspiciously and cynically at artists who try to pull themselves out of that very rut. A little nod of encouragement might have been more magnanimous. But then, these courageous students have already come a long way without the supporting words of critics and teachers.

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Lucky 8.

And Ukrainian eggs

Giant Ukranian egg in Vegreville, Alberta

I've blogged about the inability of second generation Asian immigrants to get their India out of their mind.

I actually think this is a natural thing. The Irish have kept their traditions alive (look at the phenomenon of the Riverdance) and the Scottish have their favorite son (and their Highland games), and I'm sure the Ukrainians will never leave out their eggs during Easter.

Surely, though, there is a point where this foreign and main stream culture can converge. But, as Mark Krikorian from the Center for Immigration Studies says, all these cheap flights have made ancestral contacts all the more easier to reach.

Still, I think something more basic than cheap flights is going on. How can cultures so fundamentally different as are the Indian and the American (and Canadian) ever find a meeting ground?

Here is one Chinese-American who thinks she's making that connection, but is just as ethnocentric as are the Indians I've written about.

Jenny 8. is apparently a writer for the New York Times Metro section, but you would never know it from her website. Granted she has recently written a book about Chinese food in America (that already proves my point), but her whole website is based on her Chineseness - starting from that China red. She calls Chinese food, of course as all ethnocentrics are wont to do, "as American as apple pie."

Well, not really. You could say the same thing about pizzas, hamburgers and probably soon about falafel. But to see where people really connect with their food, go to their holiday meals. I doubt that Americans will sit at the Christmas, Easter or Thanksgiving table eating General Tso's chicken.

After all those years as a NYT journalist, Jenny 8.'s seminal book has been all about her Chinese identity.

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Post 1960s Movies

Jimmy Stewart and Shenandoah

I've said many times [1, 2, 3, 4] that movies which were made after that magical date of 1960 deteriorate in storyline, cinematography and in a deeper intellectual, poetic or aesthetic strength.

One such movie at the cusp of the cut-off date is "Shenandoah", made in 1965 and starring the indomitable Jimmy Stewart. Stewart really does try very hard to redeem the film, but it's a downhill ride.

I've never heard of a civil war-era family refusing to go to war (for either side.) Stewart says his family never earned slaves, and freeing the slaves from the South is not his business. He's an independent, self-sufficient Virginian farmer, who asks for nothing, wouldn't you know. And he has these grown sons (in their early to mid twenties) who disagree with him, but respectfully follow his orders. What grown son, who's sure of his principles, wouldn't leave home for a war, or any other endeavor, for that matter?

Totally senseless, as is the rest of the plot where:

- The daughter marries a Confederate soldier, despite the family being technically Union supporters.
- The youngest son is taken prisoner by Union soldiers for wearing accidentally a Confederate hat.
- The father and sons start out on a search for this young boy.
- The oldest son stays behind with his wife and new born daughter.
- The daughter goes with the troupe!
- Stewart and his sons never fight in the war. Their battle was to bring the young son back.
- A young black worker, who is not a slave, is told by two different people that he is free (i.e. not a slave, which is quite clear from the beginning). So he "takes" his freedom by walking down this lane, going wherever he wants, as one white woman tells him he can.

Of course, 1965 is the civil rights era, the Vietnam war, the rise of the feminist movement, and other such social turbulences in the US. So, this film was really about the 1960s, and nothing to do with the civil war.

I don't mean to write a synopsis of the story, it is available online. What struck me is how bad the storyline was, and how good the acting. In later years, though, both storyline and acting suffer considerably.

So, I have to conclude that the 1960s were terrible for American cinema. Someone has to snap that tradition out of this rut.

Of course, any contemporary "Western" is just a big disaster.

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Blog

Update

Please excuse the posting problems (of images) that I'm encountering. In the meantime, you can read up on the various posts I recently made, especially the one on Narcisco Rodriguez and the slow destruction of heritage buildings (images of which you can see at the Urban Toronto Forum.)

And here's an update on the Canadian real estate bubble, with a revealing comment by one of the experts.

My latest, and completed, design can be viewed here, with notes on how I made my decisions.

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Lake Huron

Rushes and Waves

Final version of "Lake Huron: Rushes and Waves"
[click here for larger version]

I made just a small adjustment to get to the final version. The smaller subset of rushes that are blowing diagonally were originally one rod-like piece facing the same direction. Although this had a good structure - a more bolder diagonal feel - I felt that the small cluster of rushes had a more natural look.

One of the important considerations behind repeat pattern design is to determine what is the predominant direction: horizontal, vertical or diagonal. This is a horizontal piece, with the bands of waves making that a clear distinction. But, to alleviate the monotony of lines going across horizontally, I introduced a small diagonal pull as well.

As with all the designs that I do, I try to get the images to help me with the repeat pattern. In this case, I decided that there was a wind that was blowing the rushes towards the left, giving me a way to exploit the diagonal movement.

And of course, waves are generally horizontal, across a long stretch of sea-scape making a horizontal direction the main focus of this design.

As I mentioned previously, this is a stylization from a photo of a view of Lake Huron.

Narcisco Rodriguez

Trying to find the right print


Rodriguez's Spring/Summer 2008print version
of Kapoor's painting


Raoul Dufy's bold floral prints
on silk of the early 20th century


There is a long tradition of modern artists working on textiles and other crafts. Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Mondrian and even Kandinsky have made such creations. Painter Raoul Dufy turned exclusively into textile design, working for the famous fashion designer Paul Poiret. Others, like Pollack and a string of abstract expressionists, were the inspiration for many anonymous designers and their prints on skirts and dresses.

Narciso Rodriguez recently displayed his Spring/Summer 2008 collection with this tradition in mind using the prints of artist Anish Kapoor to decorate some of his clothes.

Kapoor doesn't use recognizable imagery in his paintings. No landscapes or still lifes for him. He is in fact well known for his conceptual sculptures, some of which resemble those Indian festivals of colored powder.

Well, there was nothing impressive Rodriguez's collection. Some of his attempts look like exercises in tie-dye, others were so unsophisticated than even a first-year design student could have produced them.

For many years now, I've noticed that print is a difficult thing for designers to wrap their fingers around. The monochromatic blacks, whites, greys and navy blues, with the occasional splatter of primary colors, have dominated the fashion files. Even the great Valentino goes light on patterns.

It's really time to put the variety and color of print into our textiles. But prints made with boldness, like for example what Pucci has been doing for several decades now. Not Rodruguez's feeble attempts.

If artists cannot, or will not, provide inspiration, then designers just have to work it out on their own.

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How to Get Around Destroying Heritage Buildings

Demolish the heritage building, but keep part of it as a facade on the high rise

251 King Street East as the National Hotel and Tavern, and now as a lawyer's office.The sign on the window reads in the right photo reads:

"An application to amend the zoning bylaw
has been made by Rams Head Development
to permit an 18 storey building..."
I was saved a trip down to King Street East to take photos of a heritage building whose developer is applying for a permit to tear down the building and replace it with a high rise, when I came across the perfect photos at this Urban Toronto Forum.

I read about this issue in September's The Bulletin: Toronto's Downtown Newspaper by columnist Stig Harvor, who has been documenting the slow demolition of historic and heritage buildings and their replacement by high rises and condos around the St. Lawrence Market area. Unfortunately, his September article "Glass high-rise jumble threatens historic King Street East" is not available online.

The St. Lawrence Market area, loosely covering what was the Old Town of York (now known as the city of Toronto) and its then main street King Street East, houses many of the original buildings of that era. City planners consider this "an area of special identity", and have devised regulations and guidelines on things like building height and building type to adhere to the historic characteristics of the area. But, over the years, developers have found loop-holes to circumvent these regulations, causing a proliferation of high rises and condos.

251 King Street East is one such example (at King and Sherbourne.) In 1868, the building was known as the Grand Central Hotel, later becoming the National Hotel and Tavern, and now houses a lawyer's office. It is listed as a heritage building by the City of Toronto. An Urban Toronto Forum contributor wrote on August 13, 2008, that he saw a sign on the building for an application to build an 18 storey building in its place.

This defies all the heritage building requirements of building height and type that "an area of special identity" requires, firstly by seeking to demolish the building, and secondly by building a high rise that exceeds the permitted height (of 10 storeys in that area). Harvor discusses other buildings which have circumvented these requirements through appeals made by lawyers.

How did this particular heritage building get the go-ahead? Both Harvor and the Toronto Urban Forum members believe it has to do with the incorporation of the original facade into the structure of the high rise. So, while demolishing the entire structure, part of it would still be present in the final high rise.

This is a clever strategy that I noticed in the College Street development, which seems to be keeping the original 3 (or 4) storey building facade into what is clearly going to become a high rise. This has already happened with the former Athenaeum Club built in 1891 following the period's "Moorish Revival" style. The original building has disappeared, but part of it was incorporated into the facade of a high rise to artificially maintain its 2003 designation as a heritage building.

As a mere pedestrian, I am noticing these changes in the Toronto landscape, and am often terribly disappointed at the destruction of beautiful buildings for the sake of rapid development. At first, it looked like an anomaly, but it obviously is becoming a recurring, common practice.

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Canada's Real Estate Bubble

Update

I discussed this at length here, and focused on the information I had gleaned up to now showing me that it is in some part the immigration numbers that is spiking up the construction boom throughout Canada.

Well, here are the predictions of two experts: Alan Thomorat, executive vice-president of the Saskatchewan branch of the Canadian Home Builder's Association, and Regine Durand, market analyst for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's prairie region, agreed.

"We really feel that these factors, and the investment intentions across those industries for the future, are telling us that we need to keep our current pace of construction over the foreseeable period to maintain the demand for housing in the long term," Thomorat said.

"We've also seen that the number of potential home buyers is also increasing because Saskatchewan received more than 3,000 migrants during the first quarter of this year. So we're still looking at positive economic factors supporting a strong demand for new homes," Durand added.

Yes, even out in Saskatchewan, they are counting on those immigrants. This should be no surprise, after all, since the storyline of the infamous "Little Mosque on the Prairies" is based out there.

Some commentators are talking about a percentage of these Canadian mortgages being subprime. Other economists are indicating that Ontario, with the highest immigrant residency, is experiencing a downward economic trend. And the real estate agent I asked a variety of questions to already had foreclosures on his mind. I hope people start to connect the dots.

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Two Groups, Two Styles

Pick you choice, I've picked mine

Here are two Canadian groups whose main singers somewhat resemble each other.

Crash Test Dummies songs are wry and ironic performed in the deep base of the lead singer. Even their band name is "postmodern."

Great Big Sea is a group from Newfoundland which has many traditional Newfoundland songs in its repertoire.

Crash Test Dummies has been on a hiatus for several years, with their lead singer even going solo for a while.

Great Big Sea continues with uninterrupted, successful CDs of both traditional and new material.

I've always said that a sense of place serves Canadian singers well.

A Boat Like Gideon Brown by Great Big Sea



Oh Gideon lived across the bay
He's gettin' older now
His boat is big and strong and bold
She has a stalward bow
But my father's boat was second hand
One someone used before
And after every fishing trip
My father always swore
That someday he would save enough
To go to St. John's town
And buy himself a big new boat
A boat like Gideon Brown
A boat like Gideon Brown

Confederation came around
And the days of old age pension
He said 'Son I'm saving every cent'
And this you must not mention
You save the baby bonus too
And things just might turn around
And we'll have enough to buy a boat
A boat like Gideon Brown

[Chorus:]
'Cause she can punch ahead in any gale
And ride the fishing ground
I often thought how proud I'd be
In a boat like Gideon Brown
In a boat like Gideon Brown

Many years did pass away
And Dad began to fade
He didn't talk of boats too much
He said 'Son I'm afraid'
If things don't soon improve
Then I'll be underground
Before we ever get to see ourselves
In a boat like Gideon Brown

[Chorus]

I sat and held his hand one day
And he said 'Son, that policy'
The insurance is all in your name
You're the beneficiary
And when I'm gone they'll pay you off
Then go to St. John's town
And buy yourself a big new boat
A boat like Gideon Brown

[Chorus (2x)]

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Hirst Update

Pickled eternity



Here is an article by Robert Hughes going into detail about Damien Hirst's attempt at broaching the Big Ideas in art. I wrote about his religious/Christian references. Hughes talks about Hirst's attempts at fatuous (Hughes' word) referencing: Nature and Death amongst others.

One could also add Eternity to the list, considering Hirst likes to pickle his animals in formaldehyde. But then again, his pieces are either beginning to rot, or to leak their formaldehyde. I suppose this could be a type of conceptual piece that Hirst and his museum collectors could exploit.

It could be called The Five Sensations of Death: Sight, Sound -[ of trickling liquid], Smell - [of rot], Touch, and Taste - [Hirst's concotion of his dead animals on the museum's heating system].

Hirst would just have to be creative on how to make his millions out of a piece that could potentially no longer exist. Oh wait, he's doing that already!

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The Real Estate Bubble in Canada

Will it burst? And when?

The College street building, which was left just with its attractive facade
is now ready for its conversion into the inevitable condo. The cranes are
waiting ready. I wonder how much of the original will be visible?
I recently talked with a real estate agent, and asked him if there was any likelihood that the Canadian real estate market would face what was going on in the US. This smart, innovative and enterprising man said: not to worry. But a little earlier on in the conversation, he said he was specializing in foreclosures.

What's going on in Canada?

Well, I've been following this for over two years; ever since I discovered a beautiful lilac bush in front of an elegantly designed three-storey house. About a year later, that building had been torn down, the lilacs gone, and my predictions that a high rise would go up there turned out to be true.

As far as I know, the housing market in Canada is functioning under true demand and supply, where demand for a while has been higher than supply. There aren't any arm-twisting tactics forcing it to accommodate to certain buyers.

This building spree is basing its whole market strategy on speculations on increases in population. Since many Canadian demographic experts are saying that the native population isn't growing by itself, what then is it basing its population growth on? Immigration.

But, there is something else that is causing the intense condo building projects in Toronto. One of the mandates for builders in Ontario is that they avoid prime agricultural land in an attempt to limit urban sprawl into rural lands. So builders have to build "up" in cities instead of "out" into farmlands. This limits the areas where homes can be built, and the number of condos that rise up in Toronto are artificially inflated. In 2007 alone, there were 207 condo projects in the city.

There are other potential buyers targeted, such as single females, divorced couples, empty nesters, and young couples without children. But, almost all the arguments for this building fever point their fingers at the expected yearly increase of 100,000 people coming into Toronto as immigrants.

There are major concerns of course, including urban congestion, destruction of land and parks, and razing down of architectural heritages. But no-one seems concerned about the ability of these potential (because it is still based on speculation) condo buyers to fulfill the expectations of the builders. Given the poor economic performance of Ontario, much of which is blamed on the high level of immigrants, the Canadian housing market will surely experience some of the difficulties that the US is undergoing at some point.

And that must be why the real estate agent I talked with had foreclosures on his mind. He is just preparing himself for what he predicts to be an inevitability.

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Design

Updates

I'm posting periodically some new design works on the side panel under "Design." Often they arise from a watercolor I did or a photograph I took.

The most recent one is of the Lake Huron rushes and waves. This may not be the definitive, final, piece, but I think it's close.

Now In Paperback

"Death of the Grow-Up"

Good news, and congratulations to Diana West. The paperback version of "Death of the Grown-Up" is now available (Amazon.com has a good deal.)

I hope this will help me develop my thesis that multiculturalism has resulted with logos full of stick figures and crayola, and the infantalization of design, as per my survey of organizations' logos who advocate multicultural programs and diversity.

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Damien Hirst

The show must go on

Left: Away from the Flock
Right: The Explosion Exalted

There is something really creepy about Damien Hirst. And it is really providential that his Sotheby's multi-million auction is taking place when markets around the world are reeling. Will anyone at Sotheby's stop and think?

I really don't have any gripes if wealthy art "connoisseurs" buy his rubbish by the billion dollars, but journalists who cover his periodic entry into the limelight should do so with caution and skepticism.

I realized how awful his work is when I tried to look at it with a cup of coffee in hand. I couldn't drink my coffee. All those dead animals soaked in formaldehyde.

But, beyond the visceral repulsion, Hirst is playing the perennial contemporary artist's game of acting god-like.

Many of his pieces are titled after Biblical or religious references. But with a twist. His most cynical piece "Away from the Flock" is of a sheep suspended in formaldehyde. This poor, dead creature which Hirst has hijacked and frozen for eternity in his glass prison reeks of Hirst's cruelty. Yes he may be god, but he is a bully to go with it. And think of the hundreds (thousands?) of dead butterflies he used to make his stained-glass imitation "The Explosion Exalted."

Closeup of butterflies used to
design "The Explosion Exalted"

Some writer said that he's running to the bank laughing. But I don't think so. There is something empty and nihilistic about his work, without any joy or uplifting quality.

But the best we can do is to expose him, whenever he pops up to make the headline news for a day or two.

Slow Decline

From Christie to Ellen

From Christie to Ellen

Ellen DeGeneres is now the new face of Cover Girl. What a slide, from Christie Brinkley all the way down to Ellen.

I wonder what they plan to do with Ellen? She hardly wears makeup and dresses like a tomboy despite her 50 years.

But more to the point, who will she posing for? Who will buy Cover Girl products by looking at ads of Ellen?

This is one of the strangest fashion contracts I've ever seen. It even beats Queen Latifah's presence at Cover Girl. But they did find a way around Queen Latifah. She endorses, and other models pose. Well, at least she has also developed her own cosmetic brand. What will Ellen do? Prepare jokes with mascaras and lip gloss for her talk show?

Ellen's talk show is extremely popular. Her audience is also 99% women. It could be that Cover Girl is using Ellen's popularity and have her purely as a mouthpiece to promote their goods, without putting on any of the products herself.

But I think things are more subtle than that.

There is the down-grading of appearance in ordinary women, the type that go to Ellen's shows: they are overweight, under groomed, and generally don't make the effort to make themselves look good.

It seems that ordinary women have given up on themselves. Is it the overworked woman phenomenon, where a job, a family to take care of, and one's femininity to maintain that is becoming too much?

Is that why Cover Girl chose Ellen, because they know that looks are not a major factor for the women that would be buying these products? Instead an issue might catch their attention. Why can't a lesbian talk show host, with a very popular show, do a cosmetics ad? Why not an overweight black woman become a cover girl? Everyone loves issues theses days.

So Ellen, Queen Latifah and Christie Brinkley are placed on the same level. Looks don't matter, and the model doesn't even have to wear the makeup.

Fortunately, Christie Brinkley doesn't think so. And Cover Girl even went along with it.

Christie Brinkley back at Cover Girl
at age 51, three years ago

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Immigration Review

Who are the advocates?

It seems that I do at least one immigration post per week (or two). Of course, these days we're talking about elections in both the US and Canada where the "I" word is carefully tossed around (or not.) Or like Harper's sneaky ways, he tries to address it in seemingly innocuous ways like visiting "newcomer" families. Policy-wise, I still think that Harper will settle this issue through backdoor dealings, or just spring it on us like he did the for the Chinese Head Tax apology and monetary compensation. There is also the 1.4-billion which Harper hasn't discussed yet (although it looks like a spill-over from his government's policy - "achievements", he calls it - rather than an election promise.)

The ever-informative Immigration Watch Canada analyzes the different parties' positions on immigration - not much to differentiate them, it looks like.

So, it is with great interest that I read Vdare, the more robust, American version of Immigration Watch Canada, whose writers unabashedly discuss all that others dare not to on a daily basis.

But here is where it gets a little risque.

Nicholas Stix has blogged on Vdare about two British bloggers, who are clearly anti-Semites (and racists too), who had to flee Britain for fear of imprisonment. Once they arrived in the US, they were promptly sent to jail.

I understand Stix's point, that the reaction to anti-white, anti-Christian writings is much less vitriolic than negative writing on other groups (Jews, blacks, homosexuals, Muslims, etc.).

But, I think he and Vdare are skating on thin ice when they use two racist anti-Semites as their prime example. Stix could have stuck with the poignant story of the young white man who is now in jail for, as Stix puts it, "using symbolic language."

Vdare also recently had an article by Kathy Shaidle on Canadian "Hate Speech Totalitariansm", where she used another anti-Semite Holocaust denier as her example of white grievance. There are many example to choose from, and Shaidle's rather poorly composed article is testament that she chose the wrong one.

Honest reporting about immigration is tough. But, I think Vdare would do better to avoid the path that Stix and Shaidle are initiating.

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New Article

China's progress?

I have a new article on Chronwatch.com called: "Zhang Yimou: Spokesman for China."

Please email me your opinions, reviews or any other comments. My point in the article is that: China has not come a long way...

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Immigration Review: Islam on the Air

Vision TV Islamic programming

Here is an email I sent to Vision TV regarding their Sunday program on the Koran:

From: Kidist Paulos Asrat
Subject: Vistion TV Programming
To: audience@visiontv.ca
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2008, 1:41 PM

To whom it may concern,

I am very disappointed in Vision TV's Sunday programming.

Sunday in Canada is a sacred day for Christians. This is the day that many of us attend Church services, and commemorate the rest of the day to the Lord.

It is with great surprise and astonishment that I find that Vision TV has a Muslim program discussing the Koran on Sundays at 11 am. This is the hour around about the time when Christians are involved in our worship. It is both an insult to Christians and to the Canadian culture, which is primarily a Christian one. Putting a program of an alien religion, which in many cases is the antithesis of Christianity, on our holy day is a grave error on your part.

I ask that you remove this programming from your Sunday schedule.

Sincerely,

Kidist Paulos Asrat

I had recently written about this. Today, I decided to do something about it.

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Immigration Review: Old Canadians

No delusions

James Shaver Woodsworth

The ever-informative Immigration Watch Canada had a post up on August 28th going through the gamut of immigrants coming to Canada from 1899-1909, as discussed by James Shaver (J.S.) Woodsworth, founder of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (the CCF)) and predecessor of the New Democratic Party.

No-one from the NDP would talk this way now, except in the restriction, labour union sort of way which sometime makes the NDP sound like they have affinities with the far right (only an illusion, though).

Mr. Woodsworth's words show that Canada was a much more conservative country then, when even a left-leaning party was able to talk unabashedly about immigration restritction, and the loss of the Canadian identity due to high levels of "orientals."

Please do read the whole post. It is entertaining, as well as sobering.

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Immigration Review: New Canadians

And Harper's "hidden agenda"

From the September 9th Toronto Star.
Which is Liberal and which is Conservative? Hard to tell.

It was hard to find the transcript for Harper's recent talk at the John Paul II Polish Cultural Centre in Missaussauga on September 9th, but here is what he said that should indicate his future intentions for immigration policy:

These and other initiatives underscore our understanding of the concerns of new Canadians, and our commitment to bringing more immigrants to Canada to live, work and succeed in Canada.

The initiatives include reducing the fee for immigrants applying for landed status by half, and $1.4-billion for immigrant settlement programs (it's not clear for what period of time).

All the pundits, bloggers and MSM, are talking about the economic factor. Harper, they say, is making the economy his focus. But, I don't buy that. Under the radar, Harper still seeks to win over those liberals (and immigrants), especially in the big cities like Toronto.

As his speech in Mississauga shows, his party has already invested time and money on the immigrant issue. And the economy is actually intricately linked to Ontario, the largest immigrant-base in the country, since there is now talk of Ontario being on the receiving end of the equalization payments, or at least to reduce its contributions. Even John Tory, the defeated Conservative provincial candidate, expressed shock last year at how bad the Ontario economy is. All this, as many records show, is partly related to the immigrant issue. The numbers are climbing, the results are minimal, if not negative, and no-one is talking about it.

But, given that politicians all over the Greater Toronto Area are showing up wherever immigrants reside (and celebrate), and Dion's recent competitive $800-million promise to "modernize and streamline immigration" - whatever that means, it is clear that winning immigrant votes is still a big issue.

Dion may not be far from wrong in saying that Harper has a hidden agenda. Although it is not that Harper is more right-wing or ideological than he lets on, it is that he is less so. Harper is banking on winning a majority this time around. He's certainly laid out his (non-conservative) groundwork to get there. There's no reason why he should change direction once he wins his election, based on the moderate policies he's implemented so far. And winning immigrant votes is certainly part of his plan.

James Bissett from the Canadian Centre for Policy Studies is one of the few experts who says that immigration should be an election issue. My point is that it is, but it is kept, at least by the Conservatives, relatively hidden. Otherwise what is to differentiate them from the Liberals? Yes, Harper does need those big city votes, but it ironically, it is the rural and small town votes that he needs most now. And he still has to win them over (not the liberals) to his moderate, even liberal, positions. That is why I believe he's keeping immigration under the radar. Does back room deals of post election goods with ethnic leaders sound like a reasonable assessment?

Harper has done a clever job of wooing over Quebeckers, liberal-loving immigrants, and even kept some kind of conservative (Canadian style) base. His method has really turned out to be cold expediency.

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Immigration Review: Just Numbers?

The delusion of Numbers USA

The Face at Numbers USA. Yes
they're trying to make a point

Here is a disappointing video from Numbers USA, an otherwise excellent immigration update website with activists involved in immigration reform.

The video, front and center on their homepage, blatantly says that the current immigration issue has nothing to do with race or skin color, but on numbers. As I have documented at least once on this blog, the immigration issue, in Canada at least, has a lot to do with the immigrant's country of origin.

My postings, that educated, second generation Indian immigrants are adapting to Canadian culture much less than we imagine, was supported by a more academic source.

Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies in a debate with Shikha Dalmia of the Reason Foundation, argued that educated Indians are more prone to national (Indian) sentiments, and that their off-spring are less likely to feel American than expected. I have blogged about this discussion here.

I reached my own conclusions after informal surveys of the internet sites, movies, fashion, and TV programs that Indians in Canada are attracted to. My findings surprised me a great deal, since I never imagined how much these "Canadian" Indians were attached to the country that they never grew up in, and visited, if at all, only periodically. What started off my curiosity was how well-established writers (usually Canadian or American-born) ended writing whole novels which dealt exclusively with their alienation from their current, Western culture. I also wrote an article about this.

I'm glad to note that I am not the only one that has noticed this discrepancy at the otherwise great Numbers USA website.

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In Memoriam

Endless 9/11s



About two years ago, I noticed a building with June lilacs blooming in its garden, perfectly bringing out the grey/black colors of the building and enhancing its simple, yet elegant architecture.

I took a picture of the building with the lilac bush, and drew a rendition of it in pastel and charcoal.

About year later, I was shocked to find that the building had been demolished (in a matter of weeks, I'm sure, since I often walk by it). I predicted that a condominium would go up, in a post ironically titled "Preserving Memory."

A high rise did go up, but as a housing center for the nearby Ryerson students. I've written about the Ryerson expansion, and my skepticism about this long-term project here.

As I walk through or around the campus to get to subways and street cars, what strikes me each time is the over-abundance of "South Asians", hijab-wearing women, and Arabic language spoken loudly and belligerently.

This is the student body that Ryerson is pulling all its stops for, buying nearby buildings, building new ones on available campus land, acquiring funds from the government and generous private funds.

I wonder how many of them will use the engineering department, or other technical departments to reek havoc around campus and around the city? Previous terrorist networks have made great use of the various cities' technological infrastructure, what's to stop them using the readily available university ones?

In their quest for naive universality and utopia, Canadian leaders have put their land on the block, for sale (or destruction) to the nearest bidder.

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John Lautner's buildings

Bringing the Outside In
Left:Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West in Arizona
Right: John Lautner's sub par imitation Desert Springs Motel, Palm Springs CA

John Lautner studied under the great Frank Lloyd Wright. He moved from his native Michigan to live and work in Los Angeles until his death in 1994.

His buildings do show Wright's influence, but with a twist. Wright was the master at integrating his buildings (especially his homes) with their surroundings, often of the natural environment. The buildings almost become invisible within nature. Fallingwater may be Wright's most famous example of this, but there are many more, including the Arizona Taliesin West, which incorporated the sparse, cactus-filled landscape (colors and shapes) into the building. Wright often used the materials for the houses directly from the surrounding environment.

Lautner tried very hard to submerge his buildings into the environment. But, what he really accomplished was to submerge the environment into the buildings. He did this with his open-plan style (a style which Wright also used but with more intimate effects), glass-walled homes. From the inside, one feels like part of the outside. But from the outside, one feels like looking at an alien space-ship that has suddenly landed between the trees and shrubs.

John Launtner's Sheats-Goldstein House: View from interior, and from exterior

His biography states that Lautner hated living in Los Angeles. But he never left it either. Wright, who was born in Wisconsin (with family ties in Massachusetts), kept in contact with his home state throughout his life, building a summer home there.

Lautner's futuristic, alien vision, was finally playfully popularized with his Googie style. He designed the Googie's coffee house, which became the blueprint for generations of road-side diners and restaurants. In a similar imaginative vein, his buildings became the site for many films and TV commercials.
Googie Style

Perhaps Lautner's life-long endeavor was not to imitate Wright, which is certainly the normal progression of a student to turn away from his teacher. But, after conquering nature (on our planet) where else could he go? After all, he had also abandoned his home in Massachusetts, to live in a region he despised. So, the most he could do was stretch his imagination, which is good enough for movies, commercials and fun places to eat. But how long can people really stand to live in a Lautner house? His famous Desert Hot Springs motel is selling for far below its expected price, and Hollywood stars are flipping their Launter home, certain that in this age of property avant-garde, people will buy them as investments rather than as permanent homes to settle in.

Not surprisingly, his most successful, and praised house was the one he built for himself. And that really resembles Wright's integration with building and nature - from the outside and the inside.

Left: Concrete interior bedroom of Segel House
Right: Lautner's California home, reminiscent of a Wright house, and the woody Michigan landscape

UCLA's The Hammer has an exhibition on Lautner entitled: "Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner" through October 12th, 2008

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Idol Crowning

My picks

The entertaining Canadian Idol is over. And for once, I agree with the judges! I couldn't see the charm in Mitch at first - his voice was a little weird for me - but he, along with Earl and Amberly, are the only three who sang in a manner that touched me.

Mitch sang his wonderful song again: "Love this town." Theo is a far better singer, but he never came close to Mitch's rendition. Like I've said before, it is the small town guys who understand the attachment of place.

Here it is again, around the 1:10 point.



If I had my way, the top three would be Earl (winning), Amberly, second, and Mitch singing this intimate song.

More Idol opinions (mine) here, here, here and here.

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Distrusting Memory

Opting for technology


Why is it these days that we are not satisfied with memories? Why do we need a record of that memory as well? On a recent trip to Niagara Falls (we are blessed that it is only one hour drive from Toronto!), my camera battery ran out, so no pictures!

Fortunately, I have dozens (close to a hundred?): from near, from far, with a telephoto lens, with a cheap digital one, in color, in black and white, on motion picture film. Ad infinitum.

It is probably the most majestic place that I know of.

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A Summer's Tale

Woody Allen style?

Woody Allen's latest comedic effort, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" takes place in lovely Barcelona during the summer. His erudite group of bohemians entertain themselves to death, close to literally in some cases.

A reviewer suggested that this is a Woody Allen version of an Eric Rohmer film. Yes I can see the resemblance, and in fact it really does look like Allen got the inspiration from the great Rohmer.

But, Allen is too slack. This makes his overall effort unrealistic, and I really couldn't help the bouts of laughter I tried to suppress (unsuccessfully - no-one else was laughing!) I never laugh in Rohmer's films, although they are extremely comedic - the joke being at us. I think he manages to tap into a universal folly, characteristic of all humans.

Allen's characters, on the other hand, just remain on the screen and don't translate further (out to me, at least). Still, I liked this little film.

Allen's ending was callous, I thought. He left his characters hanging. This is something that Rohmer never does. His films exude generosity, often at the end, despite how silly and irritating his heroines (they are often female) may be. Rohmer acts like the patient parent, who will watch us through all our antics, and will still love us for who we are.

Woody Allen was just a tiny bit mean-spirited.

Tattoo Frenzy

And ring substitute



We were introduced to the Palin family penchant for tattoos when Levi Johnston was seen with Bristol's name inked (as Sarah Palin would say) on his ring finger. Tattoo experts say that it is not new, ( it was not a sudden job for the RNC) and implies his long-term seriousness and commitment to Bristol.

A similar tattoo story was disclosed in this video, where Sarah Palin mentions her son having acquired two. She lightly tried to dissuade him from getting them, but then was obliging (proudly so) because of their imagery - one of Alaska, another of the Fish for Jesus.

This reminded me of the strange moment in Dinesh D'Souza's book "What's so great about America", near the very end, when he talked about the great freedom of expression that America allows her citizens by, amongst other things, allowing youth to sport body piercings! So much freedom there!

But, Palin's disclosure was made in a church, after all. And tattoos are controversial amongst devout Christians, especially those that seem to take the word of God literally, as does her former church, the Assembly of God, where she gives this speech. She seems to have ignored the Leviticus 19:28 command: "You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. " And various New Testament verses including1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19 which talk about the body being the temple of God, and not to harm it.

I understand there is a certain working class valor to tattoos, especially with soldiers marines, construction workers and other rough trades. But, a tattoo is still a sign of rebelliousness, and I should add, uncouthness. It was surprising to hear conservative (or Republican) Vice President nominee Palin talk so freely of her son's tattoos in front of a group of young men in her church, presumably also conservative, just a short while before her selection as McCain's running mate. But then, since her son is so patriotically exhibiting Alaska, and devoutly displaying Christ, then there are a thousand reasons to excuse this breach. Just like what she's done with the story of her pregnant daughter.

I wonder how many other odd stories we will be privy to regarding Sarah Palin? It does seem, though, the real shockers are out of the way. Oh yes, there is that mention of her husband who is "often around the house." What a strange way for a man to spend his time, "often around the house." Isn't this a sign of the male who has relinquished, rather selfishly, the tedious (or is it exciting to Sarah Palin?) job of bringing home the bacon? How can one trust a family where the man is "often around the house?"

More stories like this, and the original explosive entry of Sarah into the public sphere begins to get dim. There really is something to the adage: look before you leap (or choose, in this case.)

Ilana Mercer writes about "The Talk" she gave her daughter at the appropriate age. She has linked to an eloquent article of hers about bringing back the word "bastard" and also the shotgun wedding, to spare families of a "deep, abiding, disgrace."

"But, on what basis?" I kept asking. Why shame and disgrace? What is shameful and disgraceful about having a baby, by any means: out-of-wedlock, artificial insemination, sperm donor? Mercer wasn't able to elucidate what principles render a bastard disgraceful.

And sure enough, Palin's soon-to-be grandchild who was conceived by a young unmarried couple, a situation Mercer apparently abhors, didn't deter her from writing this glowing article about Sarah Palin. (But Mercer makes a disclaimer in her original post, which neatly gives her the liberty to write the glowing article on Sarah's endless abilities.) Besides compartmentalizing Palin's personality, the cause of her accomplished political life on the effects of her daughter's personal life is thus cleverly avoided.

I could have predicted this capitulation. Basic issues like marriage, homosexuality, feminism, (and tattoos and body piercings!) take a back burner for modern people's infatuation with the latest drama. After all, the age-old stodgy caution and patience is a thing of the past. Palin showed us that when, instead of spending a few years with her family, house-cleaning - both literally and metaphorically - she opted for the immediate excitement of the game. And I would say that most women these days are variations of Sarah.

Yes, tattoos, man often about the house, out-of-wedlock grandchild, are all part of the package of the modern life - you may have one, or all of them, and there's nothing disgraceful about that in the mores of the modern world. It is just part of the change, as Palin tells her evangelical proteges in the video.

Women can do what they want and men can just hang on to those apron strings (coat tails?), and babies are cute and cuddly however they come. Bastard, shame and disgrace are but words. Anyway, those Sarahs can always turn things around!

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What's on my iPod

Well, on my CD player and on Youtube

There's a thing that bloggers do, usually on myspace, where they tell you what they're listening to at the moment they're blogging.

Well, I'll cheat a little, and just tell you what's in my CD player, and what I recently listened on Youtube.

I actually find this information very interesting. It is one way where I have expanded my (usually non-classical - nobody, it seems, listens to classical music) repertoire.

Youtube: a bluesy, folksy Trouble by a reclusive Ray Lamontagne. He's someone who apparently started writing his music at adulthood. I'd never heard of him till very recently.

CD: Dvorak
-Cello concert in B minor
-Symphony No. 8 in G major, especially the third movement. I'm trying to post this third movement on Youtube, but the upload is taking time. I'll update it when it's ready.


Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 8 in G major, op. 88
Allegretto grazioso - Molto vivace

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Battle of the Small Town Boys

Rages on

The Canadian Idol contestants sang two songs each from Bryan Adams' repertoire. All the songs that the Idol judges praised, I found to be lacking. Those that they disliked, I thought best suited the contestants.

I think these are talented young men. These competition shows do bring out an interesting element: how does pop culture propagate its future singers? It's good to know that they do go back to the tried and tested performers. Bryan Adams, for all his light rock, is a good musician.

My choices:

Drew sang "I'm ready" with a steely, controlled emotion. Of course the judges wanted more gush.
Mitch's "Heat of the night" had energy which his rather chipmunkish voice needs to sound normal. Judges' verdict? "It was too angry!" This is rock we're talking about.
Theo's "When you're gone" had the Elton John approachable, singable melody but with more funk. Judges? Well, I don't know.

You can judge for yourselves here - video links are provided with the song title.

Toronto, the biggest city in Canada, has no contestants! But this is a whole other post (I will be writing about the rising condo market, and the destruction of architectural landmarks, in the next post. I just need to do more research. I think it is all related.)

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Tabloid Fury

Sarah vs. Barry

Update: Sarah Palin was brilliant in her RNC speech. Amazing. Beat them all - Giuliani, Romney, Thompson, and those parade of women who also made their presentations. I bet she'll outshine McCain too. What a pity, this tabloid story she brought with her. Nothing good has come off compromising this big a situation. Even the Old Testament kings had to mop up many after effects. What a pity. But her confidence suggests otherwise. I hope she knows what she's doing.

I said before that America is a robust country. It will somehow deflate its biggest obstacles. Maybe she's the one put there to deflect Obama. She really is too good to be true.

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Never has American politics appeared so strange. In the name of a pro-life, small-town, moose-eating, mother-of-five Alaska governor for the VP ticket, conservatives have literally gone batty.

Like right-wingers who advocated bad erotica ( Mohammed's encounter with his 6-year-old "wife"(!) - scroll down to "The problem with freedom of expression") in the name of freedom of speech, are at loss again when it comes to deciding what to do with a woman who is running the country without cleaning up her house.

In this battle of the tabloids, conservative bloggers [1, 2, 3, etc.] are decrying the media's favorable bias towards Obama's family while it's "trashing" Sarah Palin's.

Why are they so angry? Because Sarah is "conservative" and Obama is "liberal." What about the issues that Sarah is opening up, like a sore wound? Don't they count for discussion and judgment?

Just like defending the erotica novel "The Jewel of Medina", once we let go of our principles, then we're in dangerous waters. Why are conservatives defending unequivocally a trashy pornographic book? Why are they defending, unequivocally, with all discussion suspended, Sarah Palin's selection?

Let's think more about this Sarah Palin episode without being blinded by partisan views. American culture is more nuanced than what we're allowing with Palin's entry into the fray. A mother with a special-needs baby and an unwed pregnant teen, as Vice President? Amazing? Remember Murphy Brown? How the tables have turned!

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Traditional Ethiopia

And porn art


There are many things going on in Ethiopia, the least palatable of which is the apparent atheism of the current leader. I won't go into the bitter politics except to say that he's still 100% better than who was running as leader a decade ago.

But, here is the surprise. Photographer Biniam Mengesha had initially acquired permission to exhibit his photography in a July show, but upon reviewing his works, the members from the Ministery of Culture deemed the nude photographs "pornography" and withdrew the permit.

His would have been the "first nude show in the Horn of Africa." Yes, modern Ethiopia is sure leading the way.

But old habits die hard, and I would think that's what most of this verdict by this group is. A habit of the strict conservative culture that is part of the Orthodox society. Now, if these judges were only working based on the true principles of that Orthodoxy, and not just knee-jerk reaction, then there is some hope for the deeply principled (upon Christian, biblical edicts) behaviors which their predecessors followed so closely.

But the Ministry seems to be right. Just by looking at Biniam's studio sign, he doesn't look like he's into art as much as some kind of glamorous pursuit for extra earnings. You can view the photos here and judge for yourselves.

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