Twenty years ago yesterday, my friends and I entered a packed Paramount Theatre in Saint John to watch the premiere of Tim Burton’s Batman. Immediately afterward, I declared it to be the greatest film ever made.
The years have tempered that statement a fair bit. Looking back, for all his visual style, Tim Burton wasn’t very good at directing humans. But the movie did, in many ways, usher in the modern era of comic adaptations although we had to sit through The Shadow and Dick Tracey before we could get to see X-Men and Spider-Man.
In a sense, the 1989 film has more in common with the 1960’s version than the current Christian Bale version with the Cookie Monster voice.
And Jack Nicholson’s line “This town needs an enema!” is really, really dumb.
My second entry in the ongoing series "John Tries a Beer He Never Had Before" is P’tit Train Du Nord. Brewed by Microbrasserie St-Arnould, P’tit Train is described on their website as the champagne of Mont-Tremblant.
When I tasted it, I didn’t detect any champagne flavour but, as a pale ale, it had a nice, smooth taste but I wouldn’t necessarily say it had a high drinkability. One at a time was enough for me. That could also be my age talking.
It’s enjoyable and I’d recommend to anyone but I have to say I liked La Griffintown Montrealaise just that much more.
I saw this a few weeks back in my Google Reader and loved. It was created for this organisation and now, I’m just struck by how relevant that particular Photoshop has become.
I’ve been reading Kady O’Malley’s liveblogging of Michael Ignatieff’s response to the Conservatives economic report. Most people were banking on him supporting the government and now, with his insistence that certain demands regarding EI, federal stimulus money, and medical isotopes, the prevailing wisdom just doesn’t seem to be holding.
On Friday, the government could very well be defeated and we could be on our way to our second federal election in a year. This, in itself, doesn’t bother me. For as long as we’re electing minority governments, this will be an issue. And I’m happy to have the right to peacefully change or continue the government when asked.
What bothers me is that the default national choices are so uninspiring. In the Conservative government, you have a paranoid leader who spends his time running attack ads every time the Liberals get a new leader or trying to wrangle his members who either don’t know what they’re doing or are telling people with whom they disagree to fuck off. In the Liberals, I have yet to see them articulate any kind of idea as to what their government would look like. Other than not being Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff hasn’t given us much of a reason to vote for his party.
And so in a month and a bit, we may find ourselves voting on such electrifying issues as the administration of an employment insurance programme that my home province doesn’t participate in (we have our own deal here) and the definition of implementing stimulus money. You can’t accuse us of being a country of big issues.
In the federal and provincial elections in which I have voted, I’ve supported Liberal, New Democrat, and Green Party candidates. I don’t really know who’ll I’ll support this time.
People often complain that Canada has no Obama, someone of such gifted oratory whom people can really rally around. As nice as that would be for us, right now I’d settle for some quiet competence.
I’ve always liked the science fiction that uses the alien arrival as a metaphor for immigration and integration. In case of the original V, the arrivals were invaders in disguise. The remake I talked about last week will likely take a different approach. In the 1988 film, Alien Nation, the arrivals were effectively refugees.
This summer, a variation on the aliens as refugees theme, arrives in the form of District 9, a South African film which appears to draw parallels with apartheid. I’ve no idea if this will even show up in Montreal but I’d love to see it.
In a little over two weeks, I’ll be taking five weeks of paternity leave. It’s an ok deal and it’s one of those things that I think makes sense for governments to do – help people spend a little more time with their families. It’s not as generous as certain part of Europe, of course, but it’s little better than the U.S. where you’re more or less on your own after the baby is born.
So I’m glad that the programme is there and plan to take full advantage.
So the month of July, which I chose because it’s nicer than January, is going to be a month of firsts for the little guy. It’ll be his first major road trip (it’s nine hours to Saint John). He handled the Christmas trip to Scotland like a trooper and that involved connections in Ottawa, taxis to Euston station in London, an overnight stay in Silverstone, and two minutes to change trains in the worst train station ever. I think this trip should be a little less complicated. Besides, unlike a train or plane, you can always pull over for pit stops.
It’ll also be his first Canada Day, which he’ll spend in Saint John. His first St-Jean Baptiste will be here in Montreal.
He’ll probably meet some friends and relatives for the first time as well.
And it’ll be the first time he sees the Bay of Fundy.
Afterward, when we come back, his cousins from Scotland will be in Canada so we’ll be spending some time with them as well. That’ll be when he gets his first taste of rural Ontario cottage life. Is Lakeport still a buck a beer?* He’ll need to know this.
I think it’s going to be a good summer.
Because he needs to get hold of this man, provide him with a dump truck full of money, and make this a full blown musical for the stage. If he starts now, there just may be enough time for Bat! to sweep next year’s Tonys.
