My Inner Hoser
Now Playing: The New Pornographers--"My Slow Descent Into Alcoholism"
December is here. Whee.

"Bush apparently believes he was sent by God, but I got a feeling his origins, if they be supernatural, lie elsewhere." --Eric Alterman, 28 November 2005. I'd never thought of that, being an agnostic and all, but it's definitely something on which to gnash.

Speaking of politics, Monday night I was reminded once more of how little I really know about our eminently pleasant and well-behaved neighbor to the north. I know a little of the history, some of the literature, and some television. As for the last, how is it that Canadian comedy seems to be in such a sorry state? "The Rick Mercer Report" is moderately amusing, and "The Royal Canadian Air Farce" has a chuckle once in a blue moon (I usually catch these on the fly, so it's probably my fault), but "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" is just appalling, an unbelievable descent for the nation that gave us "Kids in the Hall."

Anyway, one of the two or three shows I watch regularly on TV is "Coronation Street," which comes on at 7:30 p.m. on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Imagine my dismay and then fascination when I tuned in Monday night and found charismatically stodgy anchorman Peter Mansbridge commenting on live coverage of the Canadian Parliament, where Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin was about to go down on a vote of no confidence (apparently the first time this has ever happened in Canadian history), organized by Conservative leader Steven Harper and abetted by New Democratic leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe. Fun stuff, surprisingly enough. I found myself unable to take my eyes away from what was going on, and if nothing else, it's all made me determined to find out more about Canada. There's more here if anyone's interested. Apparently there'll be another election in January 2006, so I'll be actually watching for that one.

I apologize if all that was too exciting.