Superfunkomatic – Observations of the Socially Inept

after watching a remarkable segment on the cbc tonight about musicians that work the toronto subway i feel a surge of pride and inspiration in our canadian gem – the cbc. i’m a big fan of our national media, television-wise anyhow – the radio is a bit too “high-brow” for me.

a piece on how nationally and internationally reknowned artists make a living playing and making music in the hollows of the subway. true love and dedication of a craft; with money enough to survive to return to create more and no less. inspiring because these people have truly found their calling in life and have the passion and intestinal fortitude to stick with it, regardless of the curve-balls life’s pitcher is throwing while they are at bat.

on the flipside, and same broadcast, news that the management of cbc is now threatening a lockout of all unionized employees effective midnight sunday. the capitalism of making money threatens what is referred to as liberal, and also paradoxically, socialist media – public television. how it can be referred to as both liberal and socialist, i’ve never been able to understand.

i do know however that any stoppage in the proliferation of what is canada and our perspective on the world is not a good thing. we are a culture defined by what we are apparently not – brash, arrogant and abrupt, rather welcoming, approachable and warm – or so so our reputation holds.

the management of cbc wants to be able to hire short-term contracts, which can be reassigned or removed as they see fit. which is sad since that is now the culture of work that faces us all – we are but mere numbers, lines on a balance sheet. being treated as, and like, a professional seem like foreign concepts in the modern labour world. once heralded, journalists brought a wealth to us – simply in information, and they were respected as such. this situation reduces them, and yet another profession, to a group at the whims of a vast corporation willing to sacrifice the body that makes them their money, for that very thing – money.

i’ll wait and see what sunday holds. it better not interrupt our saturday night passion – hockey night in canada, since they’ll never hear the end of that, especially after almost a year and a half without our national opiate.

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