TubaOrNotTuba

The reason may be demographic, or economic, but locally we cannot go to the cinema and watch “original language version” films, if the language happens to be English. Unlike other areas of the world, where a sub-titled version is acceptable, here we have a dubbing industry to protect. No matter what actor or actress is on the screen, a small set of voices from a studio in Montreal cover all the bases. Pathetic.

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Part of the suburban parent role includes time as an unpaid taxi owner/operator. Unavoidable. We all want the best for our children, and that involves sites that are outside the limits of the average home. Remember how a certain presidential candidate authored a book entitled “It Takes A Village”? The subtext “To Raise A Child” should be accompanied with “Because You Will Be Driving Around”. In circles, far too often.

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Over a week has passed, and the noise from Bye Bye 2008 on Radio Canada still hasn’t gone away. I missed the show. It’s one of the traditions in the province, and certain years have been extremely funny. This time around, a different production team with different production values took care of the salute to news as seen here.  There are a lot of ruffled feathers out there. I’m going to end up hearing all the “juicy bits” just the same.

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A generation ago, the average young man sitting in a high school classroom might have had a dream. He pictured himself as the lead guitarist for a world famous rock band, playing his power chords before thousand of screaming fans. Away from the school, he might have made the first, stumbling attempts at performing “Smoke On The Water” before the mirror, and in time, as his dexterity increased, he might have moved on to “Free Bird“, or even played for friends. The seeds of a garage band were born.

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Attachment to a place is something I can understand. I have deep feelings of attachment for my birthplace. However, I draw the line at remaining in a state of war for a lifetime. We are not all created equal, if the stories in the world news columns are true. Consider the area along the Mediterranean Sea that seems to have kept world attention for longer than I can remember. Literally.

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I’ve been digging into the boxes of digitized archives today, in order to keep my GEEK status in good standing. You see, when people have new equipment to test, they immediately refer to the nearest available technophile. That’s my job around here. No new gear comes through the door without my fingerprints left on all control surfaces. Today, the big box that has been “on deck” since before the holidays rose to the surface. That’s a nice way of saying “we picked up some of the other junk” but I digress.

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Today was a holiday, technically. No routine ride across the city, with a routine desk session. However, the time was not idly wasted. Son #3 is finally old enough to merit photo ID from the state. The route from “need” to “have” is a study in bureaucratic flow charting, proof that systems do grow to consume available space.

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We do live in a marvelous world. A world where every problem can be overcome with just the right commercial  product. Consider the flood: in earlier times when confronted with rising waters, you simply took up your adze and constructed an ark. No more problem. Now, according to my friends in infomercial land, we have an alternative.

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Perhaps a small dog merits an extra sweater when the temperature drops below the comfort zone, but there are limits. This afternoon I spotted a local Airedale, out walking the human, and showing off the new jacket. Forget your handknitted variety; this was a full ski jacket, in red with white stripes, with four sleeves and a hood. Not the human, the dog. Ready for the local slopes. Where oh where is my camera when I need it most?

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After this afternoon, I can answer the question “Where do people with too much money go shopping?”. We all wish that we had surplus cash in the pocketbook, but in most cases, we’re never at a loss on how to trade the paper for “stuff”. The curious state of what to buy when you are overstocked with banknotes had never crossed my mind (until today). Now my education is complete.

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