Tag: Canada

Zeitgeist 10/13/26

It’s too soon to ask me my opinion on the death of a nation that isn’t dead yet.

I looked into it, because I’m so horrified at the state of things down there in Foggy Bottom, but I can’t apply for refugee status in Canada. Canada still considers this a safe country.

I’m thinking about that. Is the US of Assholes still a safe country? And what does it mean that Canada thinks so?

We’re three weeks out from the 2026 midterm election, and Trump is making all kinds of noise about how the Democrats are going to steal the election, while at the same time, he’s trying to gain control of each state’s election process, stationing ICE near polling places, having practice ballot-seizings… and everybody remembers January 6th of 2021, when he tried to coup Congress to stop them certifying Joe Biden as president and in the middle of things maybe eliminate a couple of enemies, like Mike Pence, Nancy Pelosi, and AOC.

But we’re 6 years futher into Stinky Don’s slide into dementia, into a presidency whose approval ratings have gone about as sour as any president’s in recent memory have gone (which is saying something, isn’t it, W?) and whose base is crumbling like stale, stale cookies. Can this crippled old bagadoo muster the wherewithall to actually steal the whole country from us? And here’s the real question: are we all pathetic enough to let it happen?

And is Canada right about us? The answer to those questions and many others might come as soon as three weeks from today.

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Over the weekend, I found my self in an extended go-’round with an English guy who at the beginning of things had seemed somewhat reasonable and worth talking to about various topics where I knew we disagreed. I held out hope for a lot longer than I probably should have. By the end of our “debate” this morning, I was 100% convinced that there was no there there. If you bring up stuff he doesn’t like he starts repeatedly screaming about “the left” and how “the left” is fundamentally delusional and always wrong about everything because “the left.”

It was truly disheartening. The longer it went on, the more vehement he became and the more obviously he strove to find some path to “victory(?).” His one article of faith (and it was faith) is that everything any leftist says is some received false notion and can’t possibly be true. In the end, he resorted to abandoning our”conversation” and started one elsewhere that was meant as character assassination and miscast what I said while still crowing about “the left” and how I’m “a racist.”

So in the end we come to this. Yes, I am on the left, and proudly so, and as to whether I’m a racist… probably? But this dude is definitely a delusional RWNJ. The more we got into it, the more it became clear that the supposed reasonability and willingness to explore ideas was a veneer overlaying a whole lot of postmodern ideology.

I’m still looking for a right-winger I can talk to and consider views I have that might be wrong. Didn’t find that here, and by golly, it seems more and more unlikely that I ever will. The best I’ve found for this so far are Saagar Enjeti and Emily Jashinsky over on Breaking Points, but I’m nobody so I don’t talk to them, I just listen to Krystal Ball and Ryan Grim talk to them.

And yeah, I learn stuff, and sometimes I call shenanigans. But at least they show it’s possible for there to be some kind of continuing discussion.

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We’re a couple of days into the aftermath of the Ukrainian bombing of 3 Russian data centers and the cascading effect of that destruction on the discourse on the internet. Bot activity on the web from Russian servers has gone down to 0.4% of usage prior to the attacks. There’s no clear data on the full effects, but with at least a couple of major Yandex data centers offline, there’s widespread reporting of a marked drop in right wing troll activity online.

I can only see this as a good thing, just a few weeks out from an election.

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Ilhan Omar’s being targeted by HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), who raided her Washington DC residence, looking for any evidence they can find of irregularities in her immigrant status, so that they can revoke her citizenship and deport her ahead of the midterm elections.

My sense is that this is backfiring. One has only to look at Elon Musk, who is the subject of reports that he came to this country with undocumented status and then bought his way in. The same can be said for FLOTUS, who is the subject of similar reports and who, for some reason, got a “genius” visa in the midst of her immigration process. Is Melania Trump really a genius? Perhaps in that crowd she is…

My guess is that they will find no irregularities in Omar’s legal path to naturalized citizenship, but that this will not dissuade Trump from targeting her and trying to remove her from office and from the country.

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Vol. I & Vol. II

I finally acquired these two beauties…

Photo by me, art design by Fabien Peterson (Vol.I) and Arielle Corbeau (Vol. II)

Like many other fans of this band, I’ve been waiting for MONTHS to get my hot little hands on these two beauties. I’ve seen many pictures of these records on my social media feeds, and it makes me happy that we all have our little grails. But what of the actual objects? Were they worth the wait?

It’s worth noting that both albums have been available to us online. We have been able to turn on the interwaves and find all 12 of these tracks (6 per disc, 3 per side) any time we wanted, for the price of whatever we’re paying for our internet hookup anyway. Then we can stream them for “free,” meaning you might have to deal with ads or perhaps a subscription price. Youtube also has many audience recordings of their current ongoing tour, so any of these tracks that they’ve brought to the stage, you can most likely see a shaky hand-held cam video of with muddy-ass sound as an added bonus.

And yeah, I’ve done that a bunch. Short of turning this exercise into a defense of buying physical media in an age when all of this stuff is RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU ON THE CENTRAL SCRUTINIZER, I can only tell you that I’m happy to have these particular objects in my posession, in the context intended by the makers of this music. YMMV.

I can also tell you that I have seen these 2 albums listed on eBay for a grand.

Vol. I includes two songs titled after foods the band has been known to throw into the crowd at shows. In each case, I find them to be the weaker tunes on the album. Tohogd (hot dog) sounds like an early effort, something the brothers made when figuring out how to do this act. Sahardnieh (sardines) sounds a bit more fully realized, but sits between two tracks I find more interesting and more complete. Side one has what I think is the best song on the record — Sherpa — but overall, side two is the stronger set. By overreaching extension, I derive the impression that this band has far more to offer us than its baser, more novety-ish impulses.

But then, I feel a little presumptuous in trying to separate out intentions I’m not privy to. And I will remind that the first thing that made me perk up and listen was their stage presentation — the very gimmickiness that I set at the base of their approach. Still, between Ababa Hotel and Sahardnieh, I’m absolutely going to point you to the former as a fine demonstration of what this band can do, and Sahardnieh as a slightly lesser, but still vital representation of what the band identity.

Side 1 of Vol. II is the high point of their recorded work, in my opinion. It’s like a combination of Eno and “Pleasant Valley Sunday” with a bit of krautrock flavor mixed in. It’s also very precise and funky af. Again, and not for the last time… AdP are very good players. These songs are structured brilliantly, the humor is fully present. As I listen through these three songs — “Fabienk,” “Mata Zyklek” (My favorite Angine de Poitrine song,) and “Sarniezz” — I feel a thrill at brilliant new music that I haven’t felt in a good long while. Each new track makes me want to dance, makes me smile, makes me glad I’m here to experience this young band who have found new ways to bring out these responses in me.

And the music holds up without the costumes. That may be the best thing that comes from listening to the vinyl. Without the extra stimulus of those whacked-out (but very cleverly designed) outfits, the experience is just the players — Khn and Klek — and the aural environment they create. Khn uses the microtonality of his instrument(s) in an absolutely tasteful way. The “extra” notes are never just extra — they are an augmentation, an extension of the possibilities available.

One of the most impressive passages here, the end of the first section of “Utzp,” the side 2 opener, is a layering of harmonies, each new layer incorporating microtonality as each new part comes in and keeping things consonant and propulsive as Khn surprises us each time things come around again.

And side 2 of this album doesn’t disappoint, even though I think they rightly chose side 1 as the bulk of that KEXP live set that everybody saw (myself included) and turned them into the most exciting thing in rock music in 2026. The ideas keep flowing, the execution is in all cases flawless and fun.

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