Jan 19
You can never really appreciate the absurdity of the Bush administration. From a certain point of view, a cast of colourful characters and caricatures are running the hyperpower of the 21st century. To help develop that tableau, Salon.com has compiled a list of 34 scandals currently plaguing the White House. A good read, some pretty damning stuff, particularly the figures involved with Halliburton. No one in their right mind can deny that the only word to describe it is: absurd.
Perhaps on the other end of the absurd-o-spectrometer was this 20-minute sequence of characters performing a strange ritual on television. No, not some Monday evening Discovery Channel Special on pagan cultures, but professional wrestling. (You can’t help being impressed by it: these are serious men & women in peak physical condition performing constantly). A little background info is warranted: Monday Night Raw was being held here in Toronto, with a match between two Canadians, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho. Naturally you’d expect the crowd display their respect to these two men through the usual whoops, chants and unintelligible warbles associated with ‘rassling…
Instead, the TV audience was treated with a good old fashioned Canadian feel-good love-in: everyone sitting quietly in their seats, politely applauding the performers and the show they are presenting. It was almost as if the sports entertainment broadcast from Hogtown was magically transformed into a gold medal event at the Olympics. Only in Canada?
Still, the image of the ho-hum, well-mannered, “nice” Canadian is (subconsciously or not) reinforced – not a bad thing per se. There are many advantages to being polite…
But right in the middle, balancing my mind out, was this single thought: what a glorious time to be alive and witness these daily spectacles!
On a different note, I think time is an intriguing concept. What does time mean? What does it mean to us? Our lives are so structured by a concept. Perhaps this is presumptuous and pretentious of me, but I intend to explore that concept. Keep me brain ticking. But don’t expect some philosophical breakthrough any time soon: I’ll be going at my own pace (pun woefully intended).
