Last night, the CBC ran a series of interviews with high-ranking Canadian politicians about their experiences during September 11, 2001 (see an excerpt [20 min RealVideo]). What made the interviews particularly engaging was that the nature of the conversation was candid, personal, and it would seem, honest.

The discussion with Prime Minister Chrétien was particularly interesting. He spoke about the experience of debating the order to, if necessary, shoot down a passenger airliner that was thought to have been hijacked. What was so interesting was that Chrétien wasn’t speaking as the Prime Minister. Rather, he was speaking as an individual – as a human being in a difficult situation.

He also spoke of the disparity of wealth between the west and east. Again, his words had the air of frankness and honesty. Honesty is not something you often see from someone who represents so many. It really jumps off the screen at you. Politicians are generally forced to watch every word they say in press conferences. The smallest remark could be misinterpreted or taken out of context by the press or opposition.

Former Finance Minister Paul Martin, Minister of Transportation David Collonette, and the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister John Manley all spoke about their memories of that day. All said things they wouldn’t dare utter in a press conference.

This kind of honesty should be applauded and encouraged. Predictably, some of the opposition seized the opportunity to criticize both fairly, in Joe Clark’s comments about foreign aid (see video excerpt [RealVideo]), and unfairly, in Stephen Harper’s opportunistic attack. Joe Clark did come to the defence of the Prime Minister though, saying that much of the criticism was taking the Prime Minister’s comments out of context.

The backlash to the honest expression of opinions like this leads to an environment of antiseptic and empty public speaking.

That said, I’m not gonna vote for any of these guys – I’m with the Barenaked Ladies: let’s go left.

Using a computer often gets branded with the same attributes as watching TV. It is often seen as antisocial and a waste of time. These machines rot our brains, right? Well, this past week I spent some time away from my computer, and I’ve come to a different conclusion.

First, I should clarify; I’m no monk – it was just a few days, but it was quite a change from my routine.

What I found was that my computer isn’t rotting my brain at all. Rather, I use my computer for all kinds of activities that I would generally consider quite healthy and positive.

I use my computer to write. I use my computer to read (all kinds of great stuff), I use my computer to communicate (with real people). I write for this site, I write for my intranet at work. I (attempt to) compose and record music. I communicate with people through email, through discussions on this site other others.

I also realized how much practical “real world” stuff I do online. For example, this week I constantly found myself wanting to do things like check the movie listing for the local independent cinema (aren’t I cool?), look up more detail on a news story I heard on CBC Radio (btw, CBC Radio is my new best friend), or even just taking care of some banking. Sure, I could call the cinema, and walk to the bank (which I did), but there is no offline equivalent to the ability to dig up details and background on a radio news story. Oh, and it turns out that banking online is a far more inviting and humanizing experience than actually going to the real bank.

I’ve learned this week that I use my computer (and the Internet) to do good things – things that I enjoy, at least.

A computer is just a tool (Marshall McLuhan be damned!). The computer is just as content to help you map the human genome as it is to show you hardcore midget porn. It will be interesting to see if the popular conception of what it means to “use a computer” will change. It might sound like a waste of time if I told you I spent all weekend “on the computer”, but what if I told you I was writing a novel, or composing a symphony (not that I’ve done either of these things).

This isn’t to say that I use my computer solely as a tool for enlightmentment. In fact, just last year I suffered a nasty adiction to Tony Hawk Pro Staker 2.

For more the on the “cult of Turn Off Your Computer”, read Curt Cloninger’s article, The Cult of “Turn Off Your Computer” Must Die.

The bar at our local university was called The Barn – this was due to the fact that is was – a barn. Apparently it used to actually be home to farm animals before it became a money-losing concert hall.

It was torn down today. A necessary move (it was probably getting dangerously decrepit), but it will be missed.

I can remember some great concerts there: Sloan, Thursh Hermit, Local Rabbits, The Watchmen, Treble Charger, Sum41 (before they were rock stars), The Flashing Lights, Horton’s Choice, 54-40, Stawberry, and a few others.

It was a great venue. It sounded great, and was small enough that even the smallest shows felt packed. I’ll never forget seeing Sloan play in The Barn on their One Chord to Another tour. The place was packed well beyond safety, and it was unbearably hot inside – though it was -20 outside. In the middle of the set, someone opened a door on the balcony directly above and behind the stage. The temperature difference caused billows of fog to poor in over the stage. The band was probably pissed as their guitars warped out of tune, but it looked really cool.

The Barn is no longer, but you can watch it fall (1.6 MB animated GIF).

My musical find of the day: Dar Williams covers Highway Patrolman on Badlands: A tribute to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. The track is produced by Jian Ghomeshi of Moxy Fruvous and includes backup vocals by Jian and Sarah Harmer.

I discovered the song while listening to an archive of CBC Radio’s DNTO (Definitely Not the Opera). I was unable to find a standalone version of the file, so to listen, you’ll have to download the whole 15.6MB MP3 file and skip to 10:45. Update: This link is dead, so I’ve attached a copy below.

It’s worth the download, and you get a bonus radio piece on Moxy Fruvous fan-dom.

Intersting geek-short-fiction from Cory Doctorow of the BoingBoing.net weblog at Salon: 0wnz0red.

If you know what a “JavaOne gimme jacket” is, then print it off and read it in bed tonight. The super-clever geek-isms of the language reminded me of our own Rob, but without his tasteful restraint.

Favourite quote:

…your body just isn’t that complicated — it’s just hubris that makes us so certain that our meat-sacks are transcendently complex.

Canadian Favourites (bonus points for correct spelling of ‘favourites’). Now anybody can get the Canadian experience of eating bulk Kraft Dinner, Swiss Chalet gravy, and all you need to brew your own Double-Double.

I’ve noticed a lot of Canada-envy in our discussions between the accents and the root-beer. But now, you can all live like kings. Cheers.

On this day, August 25th, in the year 2000, this website was born.

Two years later there have been 538 posts, 2800 reader replies, one DVD petition, hundreds of typos, and countless hilarious and offensive search engine refers. That’s a lot of volition.

I’m still enjoying the site as much today as I was one year ago, and two years ago.