Forget all that - Canada deserves some heated patriotism right now. Go Canada!

Olympics

I've never seen anything like it - I don't think anyone has, in Canada at least. Literally thousands of people flooding the downtown streets so overwhelmed by their sense of patriotism that they can't contain it. Screaming, chest-pounding patriotism; oceans of red and white; young dudes wearing nothing but the Canadian flag and Dickies, their faces painted, breaking into the anthem every two seconds. I hate to be a downer, but being on Granville last night made me uneasy, in part because I was the only one sober.

And maybe sobriety is unpatriotic, because there was something ominous about the fist-pumping, howling patriotism on display last night. There's too much history of bad behind it. It's a baby-step from jingoism, from exclusion and group-think and a sense of the un-Canadian. At the same time, it's like, let the kids feel a sense of pride in their country. why not? As long as they're not beating on immigrants. It's very Canadian of me, actually, to be weary of too-outwards of an expression of this.

But I always believed that one of the reasons Canadians didn't display their patriotism in such a fanatical way was because of a collective distaste of it. We see what happens south of the border and are a bit repelled. I feel like something really changed with these Olympics. Like one woman said on TV, Canadians are finally allowed to express the pride they feel for their country. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Olympics

There's a collective feeling that bringing the Olympics here was a big mistake. A corporate orgy, a bankrupt city. A Coke-a-cola truck leading the torch across the country with it's bass turned high. No snow, tragedy, the bad design of sledding track, rain, mud. One billion dollars in security alone. Six billion dollar bill that we'll have to pay $4000 each to settle up. But, i have to say, those opening ceremonies were beautiful, inspired, and I felt proud of how we as a country were being represented.

Yes there are the political questions of our tendency to prop up our native cultures for international consumption when we need to look like a diverse nation, but then once the revelry is done, implementing policies that might not be the best for first-nations people. But, still, it was gorgeous and inclusive, and not only did we have a slam poet wrap up the cultural event, we had freak'n punk fiddlers. The prairie segment embodied that particular feeling of being on the plains beautifully.We were reminded why kd lang, who borrowed her suite from David Byrne, rocks. Yes, there was the awkward moment of Gretzky waiting for the sliding doors to open as he help the torch, only to get into a pick up truck and be chased by random dudes. And, yes, one of our props had erectile disfunction. But you have to be pretty cynical not to be at least partially impressed by what they accomplished last night.

Here are my pics from last night revelries... and here's my favorite coverage so far - Brian Lynch is telling it as he sees it, but keeping his mind open.

Outsider Art

There's a story in the NYT's about the Outsider Art Fair that's happening in New York this week. In discussing what makes this kind of art "outsider," they mention Canadian painter Holly Farrell, who had quite a presence at the fair. You can see her paintings here. I think they're lovely. Pretty, simple, and well-executed. I guess what makes them outsider art is that there doesn't seem to be much more to the message than, here are the things in my world, and I'm going to paint them. They're not self-referential, or aware of the texture of their own paint, or anything like that. Each object is useful, and prized for its utility. They are simply pictures of things. It's like she's saying, I'm going to honour the small things that make up my life by painting them. But I don't know. The objects takes on a haunted quality (and some are just cute.) The washstand and the white chair are eerie. They're from a life that happens outside of the frame that you can only guess at. But in the end, they're simply pretty pictures of things. I go back and forth on it. Does a painting need to be more than a shiny vase in front of an attractive pattern? It's good enough for me, but then it's also just decoration. And what's the difference? What does it need to say to become Art?

But it's interesting, the idea of what makes outsider art "outsider." I guess obsessiveness, mental illness, a child-like quality, a disregard for the rules of the art world, a turn away from the conceptual. I went to the American Folk Art Museum in NYC when I was there in September and it was an amazing experience. They had a whole wall of Henry Darger, of quilters and muralists and sculptors, all otherworldly, all beautiful. But a drawing made 20 years ago could have also been made 100 years ago and also five years ago. There was something timeless about the pieces I saw, similar to how folk art seems to remain consistent. But I could very well be wrong about that.