Sunset Side

Conservative

This stencil followed on pretty nicely from Scotiabank. I can't tell you how happy I am with the crispness of the stencil and matching the Conservative logo so nicely. Again the stencil kind of speaks for itself but I think it works well on two levels. Either the party is dumb or the people that choose them. And really I know I should make equivalent stencils for the Liberals and the NDP, those other holy parties: maybe the three of them are our dear state's holy trinity.

At the Halifax Craft Fair in May I got quite a dirty look from the only old white guy that I saw practically all weekend. Sorry friend, your beloved party is never going to win the cities. And what kind of response did you expect from all these liberal artists?

Scotiabank

This shirt celebrates another stupid statement from 2008: A bank telling you that you are richer than you think.

Um, sorry but you got it the wrong way round. Really your customers should be calling you on all your excessive wealth dear Scotiabank. In August, Scotiabank reported that their profits had dropped to $931 million. Dropped? Isn't that sad? Well I guess that's a few fewer ivory back scratchers for all those unlucky shareholders.


So who's really richer than they think?

Chrysis

Well this one kind of speaks for itself. But happily thanks to all those nice commercials from GM and the Bank of Canada reporting that the recession is over, we have nothing to worry about. But if you want to remember the most popular word of fall 2008 then you might want to pick up this stencil.

Time To Think

What an interesting Saturday morning. I got up and found that Kathleen Petty was interviewing Jeff Rubin, former head of CIBC World Markets on The House. Rubin is arguing that the world is about to get a lot smaller as peak oil sets in and obliterates the global economy. And instead of doing what most journalists do, Petty is going to keep the story going by wondering what peak oil will mean for governments and policymakers in the next few weeks. All I can say is good luck managing peak oil my dear bloated, inefficient governments. Maybe you can hire a few more staff and expand your parking lot and that should be enough. Except what are those new workers going to eat?

And then following The House was White Coat, Black Art, a show about the medical profession. Usually half interesting exposes into sleep-deprived doctors and nurses, today the subject was the hype about Swine Flu, our old friend H1N1. Wow! Doctors and public health officials were lamenting the scaremongering perpetrated by Health Canada and numerous public health agencies across the country. And the result of this scaremongering is big business for the corporations selling TamiFlu, ventilators, gloves, and masks (oh yeah, and of course body bags). Of course in the end it's kind of understandable. Thanks to lawyers and insurance, governments are scared to underplay the potential deadliness of a virus, to cover their backsides, as my mum would say.

Technology

I think that this is the best stencil that I have ever made. It is the most thoughtful and complex, yet simple. It's definitely a bit risky in Catholic Cape Breton but I would recommend it for anyone who knows what modern, industrial, civilized humans actually believe in. And I got a hint for ya, it ain't some dead guy hanging on a cross.

It makes me think of a book I just finished, Climate Wars by Gwynne Dyer. I had the pleasure of hearing Dyer speak at McMaster University when this book came out. He's just the right level of cynicism for me I think (he mostly knows we're doomed since the project before us is so daunting). He talked about things I had never heard of in relation to climate change and got me thinking more deeply than I had before. Unfortunately it did not inspire me with confidence in our chances. And his book unfortunately has proved to be a techno-fix masturbation about how humans can fix the climate. He even suggests (a bit tongue in cheek thankfully) that humans take over from the earth in managing the climate system. Ha ha, what a fucking joke.

But technology is on parade in Climate Wars. Space mirrors, shooting sulfur into the stratosphere with guns, making clouds from automated ships in the equatorial regions, growing meat in petri dishes. It's a perfect world, nothing to stop our beloved economy. And just makes me think more and more of the appropriateness of this stencil.

You've heard of the holy trinity I expect: Father, Son and Holy Ghost (who is the holy ghost anyway?). How about a new one: Civilization, Technology and Economy. Get down on your knees boys and girls!

Hitchhiking

I'm starting to learn to hitchhike. I need to do this because if I spend money on the bus or a shuttle I'll have nothing left in a year or so. Not a recipe for sustainability. But I need to travel to Halifax at least once a month to meet a very special lady. So yesterday I found myself at the side of the road under the hot sun trying to make my way to New Glasgow.

Happily I'm easing into hitching. My first attempt I traveled with a very seasoned hitchhiker who taught me to walk to the end of onramp merging lanes before setting up shop. Thank you Amber! That time we only had to get from Truro to Halifax and did so in pretty quick fashion; we even were offered a ride in a Hummer. Never thought I'd find myself driving along in one of those. I mostly thought of throwing bricks through their windows. But the driver was so nice it was hard to hate him for destroying the planet. But then again we all are playing our part in cooking the earth, aren't we?

So I want to tell you about my trip. First off, as I was informed by one ride, hitchhiking in Ontario is pretty impossible. People aren't friendly, especially in southern Ontario. I'm sure that in northern Ontario it would be fine. I wonder what it is that makes people stop. I was thinking that perhaps they remember a time when they didn't have much money so they want to help out those who don't as well. Maybe it's just a small town, rural thing to offer rides. I'm reminded of the great documentary, the Power of Community about how Cuba survived Peak Oil. The government mandated that anyone with a vehicle had to stop and offer rides to anyone who asked. If you didn't you would be punished. It's nice that in Nova Scotia you don't have have the government force everyone to act kindly.

So my first two hours were pretty crappy. I was so close to home and no one would stop to pick me up. It might have had something to do with the RCMP vehicle that was parked maybe a hundred feet away (investigating a break-in to some vehicles). So I spent two hours before getting a ride with a nice fellow about 7 km down the road. Not a great start. This was when sadness started to set-in. Hitchhiking is about highs and lows. When you're getting rides it's great, when you're not or getting pathetic little steps you feel like shit (and that probably impacts your ability to get rides).

But then a nice man who worked for the roads department stopped. I'm sure that government policy is not to stop but I'm so happy he did. He drove me all the way to the Canso Causeway. When I got there I walked across to mainland Nova Scotia. Pretty cool experience I think. Not many people have done that--partly because there is definitely no sidewalk.

Then I stopped at the gas station and little restaurant and the nice lady filled up my waterbottle and even gave me some ice. So nice. Then a nice older gentleman picked me up not long after I set up shop. Turns out he was from Judique and knew a bunch of people I knew. Small world.

I was feeling good when he dropped me off near Tracadie. I was dancing and having fun trying to convince people to stop. It was nice to see them smile even if they were not stopping. That's when you know you're enjoying hitchhiking. My next ride was a young guy who drove me to Antigonish in relative silence, apart from the blaring satellite radio.

The last ride was the sweetest. I had literally just gotten out of his vehicle when another man stopped to drive me the rest of the way. We had some lovely chats about dog shows and politics (don't worry I didn't mention the problem of civilization). He drove me all the way to Jane's cottage and now I'm off to the beach. Sweet. Another warm day. We'll see how warm the ocean is.

So what's the lesson in all this? I don't quite know. Hitchhiking is actually quite fun and it's nice to know that we're all not totally divorced from one another. We can still support one another when we're all going the same way anyway. Now I just have to hitch all the way to Halifax one day. And winter is coming. Hmm. Maybe the bus will be my winter ride of choice. Or maybe I'll get my driver's licence.