Monday, January 14, 2008

Rowling in the dough...

J.K. Rowling is suing a publisher for trying to print a Harry Potter lexicon without her permission. I would be a little pissed off too if I were worth a billion dollars and someone was trying to cash in on my only good idea.

And even though Rowling has no actual chance of winning the suit, she's going to fight the good fight anyway because she was planning to write her own Harry Potter encyclopedia. Even though she encouraged the fan-created website which spawned the idea for the soon-to-be-published lexicon.

I guess it's okay to contribute to the Harry Potter universe as long as you're not getting paid for it.

And what's not to like about it?

An epic story of a young boy with glasses and a scar on his head from England, destined to be the greatest magician the world has ever known. And with his trusty pet owl, Tim Hunter will escape his family troubles and leave his ordinary life behind in search of a grand destiny.

Tim Hunter? Sorry, I mean Harry Potter.

I get confused sometimes. See, the same year the idea for Harry Potter suddenly (magically?) formed in Rowling's mind, there was a brand new comic called The Books of Magic on the shelves. And as you can see, it's hard to get the two plots confused.

Ah well, my mistake.

Anyway it must really suck to have someone take your idea, make money off of it and get away scott-free.

You know, I really hope J.K. stands for "JUST KIDDING!" because this whole lawsuit situation is laughable.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Picture this...

The bidding is officially open to cities across Canada and the National Portrait Gallery could be coming to a city near you.

And apparently the City of Ottawa is pretty pissed off.

A few city councilors in Ottawa seem to think that our capital has cornered the market on national institutions and have called for other cities to boycott bidding on the gallery even though the federal government decided to let them duke it out between themselves.

Well... bicker it out would be more accurate.

In the red corner...
The Dynamic Duo.
The Wallet of the Country and the Centre of the Universe;
Ottawa - defending its supposed birthright of national heritage - and her newest ally in supporting the boycott; Toronto (who really just wanted to jump on a bandwagon/fight a cause/talk, and hell, doesn't have the space for another gallery anyway, and really? Portraits? Pfft...)

In the blue corner...
The Challengers.
The Fabulous Five;
Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Halifax are ready to stand up to the Ontarian powerhouses and make a grab for Canada's newest gem.

Only one can come out on top and walk away with all of Canada's portraits valued at an estimated grand total of $WHO-GIVES-A-SHIT.00.

You know, maybe Ottawa could take the millions of dollars it would spend on another national heritage institution and invest it in the artists who are still alive and trying to make a living in this city.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Hate and humanity...

Henry Rollins once told me via YouTube that I had to find my ember of rage and use it for civil good. He, like myself, believes that hate and rage can benefit humanity when used as a motivator for what you believe in.

I believe in hate and all the good that can come from it.

But in order to utilize hate for the right cause depends on a matter of perspective which I feel many people don't have for various reasons.

It comes down to a matter of people versus humans, and there's a huge difference between the two.

Being a good person doesn't necessarily mean you're a good human. The perspective of a single person has a tendency to be obtuse. We all know people who are the centre of their own universe where nothing outside their sphere of influence (or perspective) matters. They can be a good person, or a bad person. But they are usually very bad humans.

Genghis Kahn could be deemed a bad person based on his track record of violence, but take into account the fact that he was uniting people and building a society rich in culture and religion. He would stop his subjects randomly in the streets to discuss philosophy and he treated them well.

Taking into consideration his ruthless military tactics, Genghis may have been a bad person, but he was a great human because believed in a world that was bigger than himself.

A good human has a sense of community and empathy for those around him. And though they don't always make the right decisions, they learn from their mistakes.

Good humans don't live in their tiny little bubbles, oblivious to the needs and functions of the world around them; because good humans understand that their actions and their decisions affect that world outside in ways that have the potential to be uplifting and beautiful, or absolutely catastrophic.

I love good humans. But I hate people; with all their shortsightedness, ignorance, stagnation, and complete disregard for a world that's larger than themselves.

Poke your head outside your tiny little bubble and see just how insignificant you really are.