"They give in to the dark side."

Politicians often start out with good intentions. This is true for both natives and non-natives, alike. They get into politics with the idea that they can change the world and make it a better place. The fortunate few succeed in their mission. Many others, however, fail. They become enamored with ego and entranced with power.  

They give in to the dark side. They forget about the principles that define us as Aboriginal people. They ignore the wisdom of the elders and instead listen to the counsel of the lawyers. They cater to their family to keep their voter base intact. They ignore the state of our language and instead focus on the state of their bank account. They would rather sing the praises of their accomplishments than sing the songs of their ancestors. They lead us into treaty instead of leading us into unity. We know that this power is simply just a mask; a mask that can be removed to make them one with the people once again. 

Andy Everson on his Darth Vader print, Power

More Star Wars influenced prints by Andy Everson as he continues to use Lucas' characters as metaphors for a variety of aboriginal concerns and issues.  The new series includes Wisdom (Yoda), Fear (Darth Maul), Control (an Imperial Stormtrooper) and Power (Darth Vader.)  I find his comments regarding the Darth Vader print to be particularly evocative in their description of power as a mask.

Political questions aside, it fascinates me to see how many artists have turned from traditional artistic influences to basing their work on imagery from comic books, video games, and science fiction and fantasy movies and television programs.  Is this an inevitable and natural result of the prevalence of these pop culture icons in the lives of the current generation, or is the artistic community taking advantage of the geek chic factor? 

- Sid

Tidbits III.

I need to have a word with HR.

The last time I did one of these little updates, I announced that we had hired someone who could sneer and say "Star Trek" at the same time.  Now we've hired a woman who is unfamiliar with the expression, "You have the bridge, Number One."  Honestly, where do we find these people? *

Well, at least I've taken care of the last one.
Damn it, I had IMPORTANT things to do this weekend!  I'm trying to build a spacesuit for Hallowe'en, I've got The Avengers on Blu-ray, six new science fiction novels from Chapters to read (courtesy of birthday gift certificates, thanks to all), and I'm behind on blog postings.  And how did I spend most of the weekend? Writing about cargo containers for work. I sometimes worry about my priorities...

Okay, so I didn't write about containers ALL weekend.
I saw William Gibson on 4th Avenue on my way back from the gym on Sunday, and it was all I could do to avoid some kind of uncomfortable fanboy moment.  On the other hand, he's got to be used to that sort of thing by now, he's been an object of geek veneration for almost 40 years.
Seriously, how cool is this?

It was actually a surprise when eBay notified me that I'd won the auction for a set of Major Matt Mason Supernaut Power Limbs with my original bid of $9.99. I'd completely forgotten that I'd even placed a bid, and I frankly expected to be outbid almost instantly - I suspect that the damn things cost about ten bucks when they first came out back in 1969.  (Okay, there was $16 of postage from Ontario, but it's still an astonishing deal.)

And really, what fun is a birthday if you don't get some toys? **

- Sid

*  As it turns out, another one of my co-workers doesn't recognize this quote. I wonder what her excuse is, did they not show The Next Generation in Australia?

** I had one of these as part of my childhood MMM collection until my brother Doug broke it, THE EVIL BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!  (Fortunately I'm not still bitter.)

Gnomic statements IV.

Quiet weekend now that the Ponds have dried up.

- Sid