Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

(Assuming your riding is having a by-election like mine)

So I just got back from voting (Survivor and UFC aren't the only voting I'll be enjoying today). I was right at the front of the line as always. I hope everyone else who's eligible today goes out and does the same. There's a sign on the front of my house, so I have no problem telling everyone who I voted for:

Really, if your priorities include things like free speech, gay rights, poverty reduction, and so on, the NDP (and in my case Cheri DiNovo — probably the only minister I've ever voted for) is the only party that truly stands for that. And, with the Liberals taking heavy corporate bribes behind closed doors, and the Conservatives taking heavy corporate bribes in public, I'd rather vote for a party that stands for the people rather than corporations.

At Nefarious's school I heard some people complaining about the NDP not supporting the upper and middle classes enough, but you know what? As someone who does well for themselves, I say that's bullshit. Our only priority should be that the “lower class” (I hate these terms by the way), because that's ultimately where all of us can randomly end up, and it's the foundation our entire society is built upon. If and only if the least priveledged among us live fulfilled lives can we have any chance at universal happiness.

Or to put it in a more Vulcan form, the good of the many comes before the good of the one.

Luckily I think my neighbors agree, and with the Liberals pulling a lot of dirty tricks (going after Cheri because she admits she did acid when she was younger, spray painting “STUPID” on tons of NDP signs, canvassers openly harassing NDP members, etc.), I think there's a very good chance that this riding will swing left.

That reminds me, I got an incredibly nice letter in the mail yesterday (seriously, it was really emotionally wonderful — I really almost started crying) with some great CLASSWAR stickers and a shirt as well.

Down the street from me there's a big “zoning” sign warning people that the building on the corner of Bloor and Dundas is going to be converted into a nuclear waste storage facility. It's a marketting stunt by a clean energy advocacy group.

Other than that I'm going to watch Easy Rider while I work this morning. For about the hundredth time. At least. I always enjoy it and always have. But I just heard something in the commentary from Dennis Hopper about using popular music in the movie that struck me as worth quoting,

“It was funny, in those days all you needed to use the music in the film was the artist's permission. Times have sure changed. It's more expensive now to use found music than it is to make a school.”

That's unfortunate I think. But who knows — maybe things like MySpace music and the upsurge in independent music will take us back to a time where being an artist doesn't have to be backed by immense mountains of cash. Oh, and to pull it back to the election, a large part of the reason that the Liberals lost this riding is by taking (and hiding) bribes from Canada's versions of the RIAA.

Well, back to work!