Debate and 'Death Country'

photo from the Queen's Journal taken during Tuesday's debate

Friday night was a busy one here in Kingston - filled with political hopefuls debating the merits of terminator seeds and banjo-filled songs about cat-fighting raccoons. These two events were mutually exclusive but both were entertaining.

The evening started off by attending the standing-room only All-candidates meeting on Canadian sovereignty, the environment, and a sustainable Kingston co-hosted by the Society of Conservation Biology, the Council of Canadians, and Save Our Seeds. It was quite an interesting debate - much more exciting than the last English leaders debate which was boringboringboring - and it was nice to see our future leaders going toe-to-toe over these extremely important issues. While I won't give a blow by blow, I will say that Eric Walton of the Green Party came off extremely well: he was well spoken, knew his stuff, and seemed confident. Rob Hutchinson of the NDP also made a favourable impression with his strong statements based on both his party's platform and personal experience. However, he didn't seem to be as strong of a speaker and he went well over time on numerous occasion. It is admitted that these guys had the cards stacked in their favour given the topic of the debate - primarily dealing with the environment however there were opportunities for the other candidates to score points. Lou Grimshaw of the Conservatives has his moments, but by and large the applause was more polite than heartfelt (I really wished someone would have asked him about the posting of political signs on public property - which all the other parties agreed not to do, based on a suggestions by the Greens and which Tories were the only ones to ignore. Had I the chance I would have asked it "Mr Grimshaw, is it because you a) hate the environment, b) are an egomaniac who loves to see his name everywhere, or c) are you just a dick?" 'cause as far as I can see those are the only three possibilities. I hope they come knocking at my door). Liberal Peter Milliken, the honourable MP and Speaker of the House looked smug and schlumpy. He was the only one to get booed and heckled by the audience. He certainly didn't win too many points with this crowd by suggesting that terminator technology is fine and dandy since farmers have a choice whether or not to use it (yeah...just ask Percy Schmeiser about that one). Even the outta left field Don Rogers of the Canadian Action Party - who made some good arguments even if is overall platform is completely crackers - scored higher on the applause-o-meter than Milliken. If nothing else Rogers certainly added some spice to the debate. Overall it was a good debate. There was some evasion but little outright spin and the candidates were snarky enough to be amusing but not so much that they were off-putting. Feeling like we were good, politically engaged citizens, it was off to the Grad Club to rock-out a bit.

The first live musical experience of 2006 was a good one: seeing Windsor "Death Country" superstars Eliott Brood in an intimate environment before they get huge after playing SXSW in Austin. The only thing that could make this better? Getting in free due my being able to answer a question about Ferris Beuller's Day Off on a radio contest. So thanks for the ticket, Tuan fill in (Eric?, I forget who it was). The show started off with the superb Geoff Berner. Never before have I seen such a nervous looking guy grab a crowd's attention, with an accordion no less, singing songs about the failure of the Maginot Line ("Stupid! Stupid!”) and losing poker to Corb Lund. With an extremely strong voice, engaging storytelling, and audience participation, Berner had everyone's attention through his rather odd set. I would highly recommend checking him out live should you get the chance. Headliners Elliot Brood did not disappoint. They played a long set showcasing material off their latest album as well as playing covers of Neil Young, the White Stripes and others. Their songs give you a feeling there is nothing outside whisky, cigarettes and murder for these guys. The gravelly voice of lead singer Mark Sasso was perpetually straining as he belted out the gritty lyrics. The show was very up tempo and had the crowd dancing (well, if you could call it that - one particularly memorable "dancer" resembled a guineafowl on benzedrine more than anything else) and the band was in highspirits and were very accommodating (ie playing a request for a couple who had to leave to catch the last ferry to Amherst Island). Elliot Brood's brand of indie/punk-influenced country may not be for everyone (although their song "The Bridge" did very well on CBC's National Playlist) but they certainly had no trouble winning over the Grad club with their energy and sincerity. Elliot Brood photo from
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