The PenOpticon

One of strangest stories of the week has got to be the take-down of a 50-foot home-made submarine that was laden with 3 tons of cocaine. According to an Associated Press report, the vessel, which was made of fiberglass and wood was spotted cruising at 7 mph, while submerged just 6-feet under the surface. Four “crew” were found inside, breathing through plastic pipes which poked up out of the water. The craft was found near Cocos Island, some 550 km from Costa Rica.

Amazingly, this is not the first time home-made subs have been used to transport illegal drugs. Last August, an empty 33-foot long craft was found floating off the coast of Spain. In March, the Columbian navy seized a 60-foot long submarine that was used to carry drugs north along the Pacific coast. And, finally, in December 2005, Columbian police discovered a half-built submarine in a warehouse in the capital Bogota. Hmmm. Why would anyone build a 30-metre sub in a city that is 2,250 metres above sea level. This one was found with a stack of Russian documents and was guarded by closed circuit TV cameras.

Now where would such a crazy idea come from? In 2001, Sturla Gunnarsson directed a small gem of a film called Rare Birds, staring William Hurt, Andy Jones and Molly Parker. If you like birds, you’ll love this film. If the mere concept of birders and birding puts you off, you may enjoy this movie even more. One of the film’s deliciously crazy subplots involves Andy Jone’s character, Phonce. He plays an eccentric inventor with an underground workshop that contains at least half a ton of salvaged cocaine and the recreational submarine he has been building for years. Phonce is finally ready to test the sub — he just needs William Hurt to stumble onto the scene to become a co-conspirator.

So there you have it: cocaine and submarines. Another great Canadian idea. It’s a fact.

After seeing Borat on the Daily Show last week, I was not tempted to plonk down cash money to see the movie. But then I started reading about the law suits and learned that Russia is planning to ban it. And we were a little bored and needed to get out tonight so we headed up to the local theatre to watch Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. In other words, you us Borat — ya got $14.90, anyhow. So what is there to say about this movie? It is hilarious, but most of the time it is uncomfortably hilarious — and all too often it is like watching an Abu Gharaib prison video. Despite the title, Borat has very little to say about American culture: New Yorkers don’t like strangers kissing them on the subway. Southerners like their prayer palaces. Texans like rodeos. Everyone knows who Pamela is and apparently, anyone, can be on TV if they really want to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. With out challenging it, Barat gives us a bland, escapist America that is hedonistic and inward looking and he reflects a full spectrum of racism, sexism, homophobia and ignorance that is intended (one imagines) to mirror the American psyche.

But Borat is pushing more than American buttons. Apparently Kazakhstan may sue the makers of the movie because of its negative portrayal of that country. Russia may ban it completely. Meanwhile a Turkish web star claims to to be the inspiration for Borat’s character and wants recognition and cash. To bring the surreality of this film full circle, several American frat boys who make racist and sexist comments in the movie are now suing to have their scenes cut. It’s only a movie boys — we’ve already forgotten you.

So what is Borat really trying to tell us? Clearly, the movie is very unkind to the good people of Kazakhstan, but the racial humor is so over the top that no one can take it seriously. On the other hand, as a work of satire, Borat barely scratches the comedic surface of American “Cultural Learning” and in the end it fails to challenge the over-protected, over-medicated, self-indulgent, hyper-consuming society in which we live. Except for this: in the middle of a fancy dinner party Borat excuses himself to use the washroom and then returns dangling a plastic bag containing his own feces. Earlier in the movie he defecates in a public garden in Manhattan. What’s really going on here? Both literally and figuratively it seems that Borat is shitting on America — and audiences are eating it up. So don’t sweat the small stuff of Borat’s insults, Kazakhstan — you got off easy.

Of course nothing about this movie is really all that easy. Borat does make it back home after all and he brings part of America home with him: a new iPod and a new wife. So we end the movie with a flourish of cultural globalization and a cute product placement for Apple?

Please can me help make a learning about this movie, Borat? I have feeling it is not getting me.

As an organization Katimavik is one of the unsung heroes of Canada. Since 1977, Katimavik has brought thousands of young Canadians together and shipped them around the country to volunteer with countless community and non-profit groups. Volunteers receive a token $3 per diem and a $1000 honorarium (after completion of the 9-month program). Katimavik provides a unique and intense life experience and a chance for young people to figure a few things out before they make their next move. Maybe I’ll blog something about my own Katimavik experience one ‘o these days. I could tell you some stories, I could.

But after thirty years of service the program’s days may be numbered. The Harper government has not formally pulled the plug on it yet, but they have essentially put Katimavik on notice. The Treasury Board has approved funding only until August 2007 and have instructed management to “cease any recruitment activities until further notice”.

It may be that Katimavik needs a kick in the pants to help it better fulfill its mandate. In fact, it may be in Canada’s interest to provide additional funding for more participants, to raise the organization’s profile and help it work more effectively with non-profit organizations. Katimavik participants could and should have a role to play in whatever Green Plan Canada eventually adopts.

Given Canada’s daunting geography and the astounding diversity of the people who live here, Katimavik is important because it lets young people live and work with the many faces of Canada. It encourages compassion, cooperation, innovation, tolerance, hard work — and fun. Even if you have never heard of it, ask your co-workers, friends, fellow students, parents or teachers about it. You will very quickly find someone who knows someone who has been on the program — or you may be lucky enough to meet a former participant.

Canada has been described as a provisional construct — an entity that exists by continually questioning and refining its values and aspirations. Katimavik is a small but integral part of that process that builds Canada. We should not let it die.

If you would like to help save Katimavik, please visit their funding status page and make your voice heard by emailing Stephen Harper and your local MP. The Katimavik web folk have built a nice little web application to make this exceedingly easy.

For the record, I’m a Katimivik “veteran” from 1978. So… if you happen to recognize yourself in the picture above, I would be thrilled to hear from you! Salut tout le monde! Vous savez qui vous êtes.

Another bad day in the free world. Three school shootings in seven days. A bridge collapse in Quebec. Planes lost. And the wars, of course. But it is not all bad news. There are always a few small blessings:

Regent Park Pathways to Education Program: a unique program that has attracted 97% of the youth in one of Toronto’s poorest neighborhoods. Since the program began, the high-school drop-out rate in the community has dropped by two-thirds. 75% of the first cohort is expected to graduate a year from now.

Toronto’s very own Nuit Blanche: a “contemporary art thing” modeled after (ok stolen) similar events held in Paris, Montreal, etc. It was a peaceful, intriguing and whimsical evening that brought over 400,000 people out to explore art in the street. And sadly, I completely missed it.

Matchbox-sized, high-speed turbines: 95% efficient, these tiny devices spin at up to 500,000 RPM, possibly providing efficient 100-Watt power sources, smaller and more accurate drills and god know what else. Not earth shattering, but it sounds like a technology that could help solve other technical problems. Maybe it could be used to process islet cells for diabetes patients or for other medical treatments (besides dentistry).

I think that’s it.

Or did I miss something? I did stumble upon a small film called ~Backspace~ FLOAT. For me it illustrates something I’ve been thinking about for a while: every day we are forced to read thousands of words — maybe a whole novel’s worth. Instead of blindly taking in all of these targeted messages, this film-maker peels the words off the urban canvas and mixes them up to produce a joyful, transcendent message. Thanks Swatstuff.

It is strange and peculiar that a large swath of Queens and La Guardia airport in NY has been without electricity for five days. Utility workers are  repairing feeder lines and transformers, but they have not yet found the root cause of the failure. Con Edison officials told the New York Times that damage was “significant and extensive.”

So where has all the power gone? If I didn’t know better, I’d guess that the protagonist in Ralph Ellison’s 1952 Invisible Man just might know the answer. Ellison’s guy is alive and well and living near Harlem, but in order to survive, the Invisible Man must live underground, must operate beneath the radar of a dominant culture that refuses to include him. He writes:

I have been carrying on a fight with Monopolated Light and Power for some time now. I use their service and pay them nothing at all, and they don’t know it. Oh, they suspect that power is being drained off, but they don’t know where. All they know is that according to the master meter back there in their power station a hell of a lot of free current is disappearing somewhere into the jungle of Harlem… My hole is warm and full of light. Yes full of light. I doubt there is a brighter spot in all New York than this hole of mine, and I do not exclude Broadway. Or the Empire State Building on a photographer’s dream night.

In many ways the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and almost everyone in southern Lebanon seem to be invisible these days. How else can one explain the indiscriminate way in which Israel has been pulverizing Beirut? Who would drop bombs on young children if they were not invisible? Of course, Hezbollah and Hamas are living in a dream world if they do not believe in Israel’s right to exist. But, at the same time, the only way Israel can truly disarm these militant factions is by offering Palestinians a full share of life in the region. They could start with an equitable distribution of water and electricity. Since israel bombed a power station serving Gaza City, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have gone with out electricity and without enough water (since electricity is required in order to pump it). As far as water goes, it is interesting that Israel wants to push Hezbollah north of the Litani river. As Marq De Villiers noted in Water:

The Israelis have never really given up thinking of the Litani as rightfully theirs. And since almost half the water used in Israel is already captured, diverted, or pre-empted from its neighbors, why stop there?

Although much of the electricity in Queens, Lebanon and Gaza has gone “missing” of late, it will ultimately be restored with the help of engineers and line workers. But these electrical repairs will only be temporary fixes unless we also repair cultural and economic circuit breakers. Anything less and the global grid will remain broken and increasingly unreliable. The displaced and the invisible will get some of what they need one way or another.