Getting rare quality time with my partner Terre, meeting people, seeing places, travelling, campaigning, laughing till I cry, feminism, pop culture references and in-jokes, sipping soy mochas on the run, big black thick clothes in winter, the Globe n Mail and Guardian newspapers for objectivity, learning to play the mandolin, credit unions, retro, environmentalism, supporting my hometown team Doncaster Rovers, supporting Toronto FC, art for regeneration, Tai-Chi, sustainable resources, double entendres, fruit tea, learning French, hanging out with my partner's children and getting to be a kid all over again, theatre, going to museums and galleries, the Toronto Star and Independent newspapers when I'm in a hurry and after a quick-fix, debating, creating, veganism, playing my bongo drum badly, hemp, burlesque, taking photos, seeing the Sheffield Steelers, coffee shops, political satire, being home alone with my feet up on the sofa skimming the paper, co-operatives, X-Men comics, public transport, transgenderism, learning, teaching, going to gigs, moving on, moving forward, writing pro wrestling soap opera storylines since age 14 and not growing out of it.
I'd like to meet:
Anyone not interested in me on a superficial level only. Anyone who isn't an Intellectual Capitalist who perceives diplomatic discussion and debate instead as a battle to be won. Anyone who isn't a Toilet Seat Intellectual. Anyone who isn't intimidated by intelligence. Anyone who isn't competitive. Anyone who communicates with me directly. Anyone with principles. Anyone that uses the brains we were all given, and actually cares about the world they live in rather than just bleed it dry whilst wasting time watching eMpTyV or reality shows. Anyone who isn't a Navel-Gazing Leftist. Anyone that doesn't work jobs they hate so they can buy crap they're told to want but don't actually need. Anyone who realises every single human being has at least one thing in common with them. Anyone that loves those little moments that don't even involve you but still possess the power to make you cry. Anyone who doesn't further justify your decision to remove them your life by being hateful afterwards. Anyone not wrapped up in a bubble of domesticated consumerism, therapy, and apathy. Anyone who realises "it's just a couch!" Anyone that doesn't just wait for their turn to speak but actually cares. Anyone who doesn't claim to love you then lie and cheat and steal. Anyone who isn't just a highly-packaged symbol of over-wrought self-perception. Anyone who hates the likes of Starbucks and Subways because they damage local businesses and communities. Anyone who isn't sycophantic. Anyone who doesn't think the latest trends, mainstream or alternative, are important. Anyone not part of an incestual clique of "free love" which is forgotten later on anyway when backstabbing commences. Anyone who doesn't think romance is reserved for literature. Anyone who doesn't try to keep up with the Joneses, or the Hiltons or the Beckhams. Anyone that actually looks upwards while they walk, tripping over just to get a look at a beautiful sky. Anyone that doesn't think that poor is cool. Anyone who respects my relationship. Anyone who's involved in the arts in any way. Anyone campaigning for issues of importance. Anyone that knows Internet Profiles Are Not Enough.
Music:
Broadcast Zero, Regina Spektor, Gnarls Barkley, Your Favorite Enemies, T-Bone Burnett, The Henrys, Vacuity, The Droops, The Stoops, Spheres of Chaos, Mark Khaladj Oates, Rosie Brown, Bison, The Long Blondes, Alvarez Kings, Pauline Taylor, Bare Knuckle Soul, Jarvis Cocker, Lou Rhodes, Muse, Razorlight, The Pipettes, The Hot Puppies, Levellers, Junior Boys, Neil Young, Sigur Ros, Leonard Cohen, Camille, Gorillaz, Feist, Asian Dub Foundation, Rammstein, Juliette and The Licks, The B-52's, Honey Root, Filter, Poe, John Lennon, Radiohead, Joe Cocker, Cibo Matto, Pulp, Needledrop, Joydrop, Kathryn Williams, Blur, Bloc Party, Talking Heads, Woody Guthrie, Lorraine Ayensu, Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, Louis Armstrong, Horace Silver, Placebo, Nina Simone, Snow Patrol, Ian Brown, Coldplay, The Postal Service, Faithless, Morrissey, De La Soul, Skunk Anansie, Patsy Kline, The White Stripes, Tracy Chapman, Barenaked Ladies, PJ Harvey, Portishead, Lamb, Diana Krall, NWA, Beck, Moloko, Micatone, St Germain, Delirium, Bob Dylan, Kula Shaker, Blondie, Leila Josefowicz, The Cure, Sneaker Pimps, Barry Manilow, The Jam, Modest Mouse, Johnny Cash, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Lacuna Coil, The Dandy Warhols, MC Lars, Luscious Jackson, Martha Tilston, N.E.R.D., Cyndi Lauper, Foo Fighters, Je$us Loves Amerika, System of a Down, Eurythmics, Joy Division, Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Kimya Dawson, DJ Yoda, Alison Krauss and Union Station, The Doors, Anti-Flag, They Might Be Giants, Pete Seeger, Nada Surf, Willie Nelson, Firesuite, Rage Against the Machine, The Be Good Tanyas, Jamiroquai, Depeche Mode, Dead Kennedys, Micah P Hinson, Insane Clown Posse, Mellow Harmony, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Muddy Waters, Sheryl Crow, The Flaming Lips, New Order, Jane Siberry, Hootie and The Blowfish, Duke Ellington, Sloan, Edith Piaf, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Manic Street Preachers, REM, Monkey Swallows the Universe, Simon and Garfunkel, Harry Connick Jr, Bruce Springsteen, Morcheeba, Josh Ritter, Colin Vearncombe, Gillian Welch, Willy Mason, Otep, Joni Mitchell, The Puppini Sisters, Joan Baez, Norah Jones, Muse, Dixie Chicks, Heather Nova, Garbage, Paula Cole, Lasgo, Vanessa Carlton, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Tom Waits, Hooverphonic, Rilo Kiley, Prana, Calexico, Mazzy Star, Maddy Wyatt.
Movies:
V For Vendetta, Amelie, Ed Wood, Super Amigos, Twelve, The Fighting Cholitas, Everything's Gone Green, Coffee and Cigarettes, Beyond the Mat, Crash, Souvenir of Canada, Ararat, The Woodsman, Boyz N the Hood, The Princess and the Warrior, Good Night and Good Luck, About Schmidt, Bullet Boy, Dick Tracy, Pierrot le Fou, The Blair Witch Project, Batman Returns, It's a Wonderful Life, The Corporation, American Psycho, Rear Window, Withnail and I, Les Quatre Cents Coups, Unprecedented, Hannah and her Sisters, Shut Up and Sing, Platoon, Greendale, Brokeback Mountain, Brief Encounter, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, They Live, Who Killed John O'Neill?, The Cable Guy, Wal-Mart - The High Cost of Low Price, Edward Scissorhands, The US vs John Lennon, USA vs Al-Arian, Private Parts, Requiem for a Dream, Rain Man, Prayer of the Rollerboys, The Birdman of Alcatraz, Big Fish, Falling Down, El Commandante, West Side Story, Don Juan de Marco, Heaven, Downfall, City of Angels, Erin Brockovich, American Beauty, The Take, La Haine, Grand Canyon, Arlington Road, The Philadelphia Story, Lawrence of Arabia, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Fog of War, Drop Dead Fred, Enemy Image, The Constant Gardener, Run Lola Run, Deliverance, A Perfect World, Thelma and Louise, Heathers, The Big Lebowski, Dances with Wolves, 28 Days Later, Gandhi, Natural Born Killers, Revolution OS, A Bout de Souffle, JFK, Midnight Express, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, The Shawshank Redemption, The Life of David Gale, Fight Club, Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room, Escape from Alcatraz, Some Like it Hot, Swingers, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Wrestling with Shadows, Wild at Heart, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Mystic River, Syriana, Beetlejuice, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mallrats, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, Dobermann, American History X, Man on the Moon, The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, I Heart Huckabees, The Big Sellout, Dogma, Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex But Were Afraid to Ask, Mars Attacks!, Bagdad Cafe, Death to Smoochy, Bowling for Columbine, Drop Dead Fred, The Crow City of Angels, The Fog of War, Throw Momma from the Train, Battleship Potemkin, Loser, Edward Scissorhands, Watership Down, White Heat, Sleepy Hollow, The Elephant Man.
Television:
JPod, The Hour, Have I Got News For You, House of Cards, Monkey Dust, Dr Katz, Futurama, The Simpsons, Family Guy, The Wonder Years, Malcolm in the Middle, Fraggle Rock, Button Moon, 3rd Rock From The Sun, Trailer Park Boys, any pro wrestling, Blackadder, Cold Feet, Twin Peaks, Profit (those thinking shows like 24 and Lost are good ought to check those last couple; they set the standard years ago).
Books:
Life After God by Douglas Coupland, Burton on Burton by Tim Burton with Mark Salisbury, Shopped by Joanna Blythman, Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, The Silent Ark by Juliet Gellatley, Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, Love All the People by Bill Hicks, Backlash by Susan Faludi, No Logo by Naomi Klein, Foley is Good (and the real world is faker than wrestling) by Mick Foley, Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland, The New Rulers of the World by John Pilger, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy by Greg Palast, 1984 by George Orwell, The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker, Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland, The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy by Tim Burton, Weapons of Mass Deception by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber, Armed Madhouse by Greg Palast, The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger, Imperial Ambitions by Noam Chomsky with David Barsamian, Original Zinn by Howard Zinn with David Barsamian, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland, New Rules by Bill Maher, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto...currently reading Speaking Out Louder by Jack Layton, The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein, and JPod by Douglas Coupland.
Heroes:
Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Victor Hugo Daza, Helen Steel and David Morris, Cindy Sheehan, Malcolm Kendall-Smith, Maya Evans, Kevin Gillan, the list goes on. However, last but not least: "Our society isn't truly sick... it is hungry. We feed ourselves McThoughts to replace the fact that we starve for truth. It isn't illness, because that word implies that it may not be cureable. It is that the collective diet needs to be changed to something nourishing, sustaining." - Terre, my partner (and the next Naomi Klein)
